Thunder in Kanto
by Count Morningstar
Summary: Takes place right after Trial of the Phoenix. After capturing the legendary beast, Raikou, Bolt Hanson decides to travel through Kanto. During his travels, Bolt makes new friends and a few enemies, and also meets a young lady who manages to capture his heart.
1. Welcome to Kanto

**Introduction:** One thing I've realized about this AU recently is that it contains a lot of characters, and I'm not just talking about all the different Pokemon there are. It features a lot of human characters too, some from the franchise and some that are of my own creation. Of all these different characters, the five central characters in this AU have turned out to be Ash and Misty along with my three OCs, Lisa Flare, Marie Dantes/Noir Mask and Bolt Hanson. And while I've focused a good deal on Ash and Misty's story and on Lisa and Marie's story, I've yet to devote any real attention to Bolt's story. I felt like it was about to time rectify that, so after spending the last three days coming up with a rough outline I decided to go ahead and backtrack and tell the story of what happened with Bolt right after the events of _Trial of the Phoenix_. Those of you reading who haven't read _Trial of the Phoenix_ yet, I suggest you go back now and do that before starting this tale. To those who have read _Trial of the Phoenix_, this is the story of Bolt's trip through Kanto and the origin of his band, Raging Thunder.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

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><p>Chapter 1: Welcome to Kanto<p>

It was early in the afternoon as fourteen-year-old Bolt Hanson entered Viridian City. As the Sinnoh-born trainer headed for the city's Pokemon Center, he couldn't help but feel pretty excited. It was after the beginning of his very first journey through Kanto, and Bolt felt certain that he could take the region by storm after the personal victory he had a little less than a week ago. After spending a great deal of time in the Johto Region, Bolt had managed to chase down and capture Raikou, the legendary beast of thunder. Soon after that victory though, Bolt ended up facing Team Rocket in Ecruteak City along with some other trainers who had captured Raikou's brethren and the sacred bird, Ho-Oh; and there was something about an ancient prophecy concerning him and the trainers he had fought alongside that day, but Bolt wasn't really concerned about any of that. The important thing was that he was back on top of his game.

Just as Bolt was about to enter the Pokemon Center he stopped in front of the window to do a quick check of his appearance. His spiked blonde hair looked okay and his sunglasses were in place. Satisfied that he looked okay, Bolt entered the building and was greeted by the Nurse Joy that attended the front desk. Bolt was not at all surprised to see that the Nurse Joys of Kanto looked exactly like the ones of Sinnoh and Johto. After giving the only three Pokemon he had with him to the pinkette for treatment, Bolt went over to one of the chairs and began tuning the red electric guitar he always carried around. After a little less than three minutes, Nurse Joy returned with Bolt's Pokemon.

"Your Pokemon are in perfect health." Nurse Joy told Bolt as he took back the pokeballs. "We hope to see you again."

"Thanks." Bolt replied. "Say, do you know where the local gym here is?"

"Of course, but I'm afraid it's closed." Nurse Joy informed him. "The gym leader has been away on business for some time now. There's no telling when he'll come back."

"Seriously?" a disappointed Bolt exclaimed. "Crud! And here I was getting all pumped."

"There is another gym in the next city over, Pewter City." Nurse Joy told him. "I happen to know for a fact that it's original leader has returned to run things."

"Well, I guess I'll have to head out to Pewter City then." Bolt decided.

"It would probably be best if you waited until morning." Nurse Joy suggested. "You'll have to go through Viridian Forest to get there, and that forest isn't easy to navigate. It would probably be nightfall by the time you get even half way through. I suppose you could camp there for night, but there've been reports of a nasty group of trainers ambushing people in there for the past few weeks."

"In that case, I'll do some sightseeing and come back later." Bolt replied. "Thanks for the tip."

With that, Bolt walked out of the Pokemon Center and headed down a random street. As he walked, Bolt pulled out a guidebook on Kanto he had recently got to see if there was anything else in Viridian City besides the gym that would be of interest. Walking towards Bolt at that moment was another young man about his age with olive-green eyes and slightly long straight black hair that covered his right eye. The young man had on a dark-brown pinstripe suit with a blue shirt and red tie, and in his right hand was an open can of soda. Bolt was so engrossed in his guidebook that he didn't notice the young man and ended up bumping into him, causing the suited teen to dump soda onto his suit and curse loudly.

"Oh crap! I'm real sorry 'bout that, dude." Bolt told him. "I totally didn't see you."

"You dumbass!" the young man shot back. "You ruined my favorite suit! Do you have any idea how much it cost? I'm gonna tear your miserable hide!"

"Look, I said I was sorry." Bolt told him. "No need to make a big deal out of it."

The young man glanced down and noticed the pokeballs hanging from Bolt's belt. "So, you're a Pokemon Trainer?"

"Yeah? Why?" Bolt asked.

"I'm challenging you to a battle. Right here, right now." The young man told him as he pulled out his own ball. "I'm going to make sure that a lower-class piece of trash like you remembers to look where he's going in the presence of his betters."

"I don't like your attitude one bit, but I've never turned down a challenge to battle." Bolt replied. "Mind telling me your name though?"

"I guess it's only fair that you know the name of the guy whose about to destroy you." The young man agreed. "The name's Richter Chase. I suppose you're going to tell me who you are now."

"I'm the badass rocker of Sinnoh, Bolt Hanson!" the blonde proudly announced.

"So you're from Sinnoh, huh?" Richter observed. "Just so happens that I'm from there originally as well. Though I was born into a much higher class than you were."

"Jeez, snobby much?" Bolt responded. "Let's just get this show started! You okay with a three-on-three battle?"

"Fine with me." Richter agreed. "I'll probably need only one Pokemon to beat you."

"Okay then!" Bolt replied as he threw his first ball. "Let's rock, Magnezone!"

Flying out of Bolt's thrown ball was a blue-grey machine-like creature that looked like a flying saucer. It had a single large eye with a red iris on the front, and on the sides of its body were what could be considered two extra heads, each with a large eye of its own. Both heads had a large horseshoe magnet on its underside, and on top of the smaller heads was a large screw that pointed back at an angle. A third magnet was on the underside of the main head at the rear, and on top was a large yellow antenna.

"This'll be easier than I thought." Richter remarked before throwing his own ball. "Go, Torterra!"

Bursting out of Richter's ball was a very large tortoise that was green and dirt-brown in color. Each side of its head was a large white spike. Three similar spikes grew from the right side of its moss-covered shell at an upward angle, and growing from the right side of the shell was a large bonsai tree.

"Crud! A ground and grass type?" Bolt exclaimed.

"You're light years out of your league, rockstar." Richter told him. "But even though I'm pissed that you ruined my favorite suit, I'll be nice and let you and that floating toy of yours have the first move."

"Like my Pokemon and I need your charity!" Bolt responded. "Magnezone, rock Torterra's world with Magnet Bomb!"

Magnezone crackled with blue electricity and a ball of blue energy began to form at its right magnet. When the ball got large enough, the mechanical Pokemon fired it at Torterra. The tortoise Pokemon was hit in the face and resulting explosion created a cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared though, Torterra looked like it didn't even have a scratch.

"Well that was weak." Richter snidely remarked. "Torterra, wipe Magnezone out with Bulldoze!"

Torterra growled and stomped the ground with its front right leg. Several spikes of earth shot up from the ground in a straight line towards Magnezone. The largest shard shot up right beneath the mechanical Pokemon and hurled it into the air. Magnezone flipped back through the air before crashing to the ground behind Bolt and was unconscious.

With gritted teeth, Bolt called back Magnezone before throwing out another ball. "Let's rock, Luxray!"

Emerging from Bolt's second ball was a blue and black lion-like Pokemon. Its eyes were red with yellow irises and it had a mane of black fur. On the tip of its tail it had what looked like a yellow four-pointed star.

"Another Electric Pokemon?" Richter asked. "I get it. You must be a specialist in that type."

"What, so now you're gonna diss Electric Pokemon?" Bolt assumed.

"Not at all." Richter smirked. "There's nothing wrong with you using electric-types. You're just being yourself. Trainers can't help but make teams using Pokemon they have a fondness for. It reflects their personality. And most trainers usually end up making teams made up of the type they like the most. It's human nature, plain and simple."

"Guess I can't argue with that logic." Bolt admitted.

"But the interesting part about all that is that you can tell how naturally strong or weak a trainer is compared to another based on their preferred type." Richter continued. "For instance, I'm a ground-type specialist, which means an opponent like you could never even come close to someone like me. No matter how much you struggle, I'll always be above you."

"Yeah? We'll see about that!" Bolt declared. "Luxray, use Iron Tail!"

Luxray leapt up and flipped through the air towards Torterra. As the electric lion sped towards Torterra, the star on the end of its tail glowed white and turned to grey metal. Luxray struck the top of Torterra's tail before flipping away, but the attack barely seemed to leave a scratch.

"And thus you've proved my point." Richter remarked. "You and your Pokemon can barely even damage mine. Torterra, counterattack with Seed Bomb!"

The large tortoise opened its jaws and fired a barrage of large balls of white light at Luxray. The electric lion was struck multiple times and was nearly knocked to the ground.

"Finish it!" Richter ordered. "Bulldoze!"

Torterra growled and stomped the ground again, sending another wave of earth at Luxray. Luxray was hurled into the air and crashed to the ground headfirst. When the dust settled, Luxray was out cold.

"I suppose I could be nice and let things end here." Richter spoke as Bolt called back Luxray. "But then watching you struggle is just too amusing."

"I'll admit that you have the edge, but wait until you see my last Pokemon." Bolt told him. "Let's rock, Raikou!"

Bursting from Bolt's final ball with a roar was a yellow saber-toothed cat with black stripes. It had red eyes, and over its nose was something that looked a blue X. A dark-grey crest covered its forehead, and on its back was a purple thundercloud that flowed like a cape. The beast's slender light-blue tail looked like a lightning bolt striking the ground.

Richter was shocked upon seeing the legendary beast. "A Raikou? How the hell did someone like you manage to catch a Pokemon like that?"

"Just a little time, effort and skill." Bolt smugly replied. "Maybe this battle isn't as one-sided as you thought, huh?"

After a moment, Richter's arrogant smirk returned. "Okay, I'll admit that being able to catch one of the legendary beasts of Johto is impressive. But in the end, Raikou's just another electric-type. Against a ground-type like my Torterra, he's no better than a pathetic Magikarp."

"We'll see about that!" Bolt declared. "Raikou! Hit Torterra with Extrasensory!"

Raikou's eyes glowed yellow and it fired a beam of yellow light from its forehead crest. Torterra was hit in the face by the beam and stumbled back a bit.

"Use Bulldoze again!" Richter commanded.

Torterra quickly recovered from Raikou's attack and stomped the ground. A wave of earth came at the electric feline and hurled it high into the air.

"Now use Razor Leaf!" Richter ordered.

With Raikou still in the air, Torterra fired several razor-sharp leafs from the tree on its shell. Raikou was struck by several of the sharp projectiles, but managed to land on the ground on its feet. The tiger of thunder looked at Torterra and growled.

"Well, well. It seems Raikou has a lot of endurance." Richter observed. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised, considering how legendary it is. Still, in the end this battle can only end in defeat. Torterra! Finish it with Seed Bomb!"

"Extrasensory one more time!" Bolt ordered.

Raikou roared and fired another beam of light from its forehead crest, striking the tortoise in the face. Torterra stumbled back but quickly recovered. Opening its jaws, Torterra pelted Raikou with another barrage of glowing white balls. The barrage created a small explosion, and when the smoke cleared, Raikou was passed out on its side. With the battle finally at an end, Bolt and Richter called back their respective Pokemon.

"Hanson, wasn't it?" Richter spoke. "I'm sure that this battle has burned the true meaning to status into your brain. Always remember that no matter how hard you struggle or fight, someone like you will never be better than someone like me. Compared to me, you'll always be a peasant groveling at my feet, wishing to have everything that I have but never getting it. That is a fundamental law of the universe. Remember that, and pray that we never cross paths again."

With that, Richter calmly walked past Bolt in the opposite direction. As Richter left, Bolt's hands balled into fists at his side. After a few moments, Bolt headed back to the Pokemon Center to patch up his Pokemon's wounds. Having totally lost any desire for sightseeing, Bolt decided to spend the remainder of his time in Viridian City at the Pokemon Center. So far his trip through Kanto was turning into a disaster. Before he had been feeling on top of the world, but his recent defeat had brought him crashing back down.

Hours later, night had finally fallen and Bolt had gone up to the roof of the Pokemon Center to think. The light from the city had made it impossible to see the stars, but he could still look out at the city. Cities at night had always been an impressive sight to Bolt. After sending out his three Pokemon, Bolt put down his guitar and plugged in a black cord that had an adapter that could be attached to one of Magnezone's magnets. Bolt attached the cord to the saucer Pokemon's left magnet, and Magnazone began giving off a soft electrical charge into the cord to recharge the guitar's battery.

With his guitar being seen to, Bolt reached into his bag and pulled out two water dishes and some cans of soda. He put down the bowls before Raikou and Luxay and poured them soda from the cans. The two electric felines began to lap up the liquid as Bolt turned to look back at the luminescent cityscape.

"Well guys, I'm sorry I let you down." Bolt told his three Pokemon. "This is worse than when I lost to Bertha of the Sinnoh Elite Four. At least she was nice. That Richter guy has some nerve. He's the one who better pray we don't bump into each other again."

Bolt's three Pokemon remained silent to his remarks. He looked back and watched Raikou continuing to drink from his bowl.

"Guess I'm not doing so hot as a chosen one, huh?" Bolt asked the tiger. "Not sure what it is that you and Ho-Oh ever saw in me."

At this, Raikou suddenly stopped drinking and looked at Bolt. The blonde rocker saw a kind of intensity in the feline's eyes that seemed to speak to him somehow. Raikou growled softly, and though he didn't know how, Bolt seemed to understand what Raikou seemed to be telling him.

"Okay, I hear ya." Bolt chuckled. "Looking at me gettin' all down on myself just because I got my ass handed to me by a trainer who's a total dick. I can't let a creep like that get to me. He may have won today, but sooner or later I'll pay him back double."

Seeming to be satisfied with Bolt's answer, Raikou nodded and went back to drinking from his bowl. Bolt turned back to look out at the lights of Viridian City.

"Look out, Kanto!" Bolt spoke. "Bolt Hanson's gonna rock your world!"

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> I apologize if this chapter wasn't a very good beginning to this story. Hopefully things will get better as they continue on. The primary purpose of this chapter was to introduce Bolt's nemesis, Richter. Those familiar with my Best Wishes Revised story may recall seeing Richter's name pop up in a couple of the chapters. I can say now that Bolt and Richter's rivalry will grow into something pretty ugly.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	2. Bandits of Viridian Forest

**Author's Note:** This chapter ended up one of the hardest to write in this story so far. Because of the rough outline I used to plan this story, I had only a vague idea about the series of events that I wanted to happen, so I had to give it a whole lot of thought. By the time I sat down to write this chapter, it ended up being fairly different from what I first thought it was going to be.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

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><p>Chapter 2: Bandits of Viridian Forest<p>

It had quickly become very clear to Bolt that the Nurse Joy back in the city had not been exaggerating when she told him about Viridian Forest. As he entered the forest that morning he quickly saw that it was made up of tall full trees that almost completely blocked out the light of the sun. Bolt couldn't help but be reminded of the vast Eterna Forest in his home region of Sinnoh and of the ancient Ilex Forest in Johto, which he had passed through numerous times during his quest to capture Raikou. Viridian Forest was just like those two great landmarks, a proud and ancient labyrinth of trees that was a proving ground for young trainers. Bolt had no doubt that the forest he now trekked through was filled with Pokemon of all kinds.

Only ten or twelve minutes into the forest, Bolt suddenly heard rustling noises that caused him to stop and listen. As the rustling continued, he reached for one of his pokeballs, thinking that he was about to encounter some kind of wild Pokemon dwelling in the forest. Instead of Pokemon though, quickly emerging from the trees was a band of humans. There were eight of them in all, and all of them were boys who seemed to be just a little younger than Bolt. Each of them had their faces painted green and brown to blend with the forest, and the all wore black and brown samurai attire without the helmets.

"You guys some kind of welcoming committee, or is there a samurai film festival around here that I don't know about?" Bolt asked.

"It seems our newest guest has a sense of humor." Spoke a voice from just ahead. Walking out from the darkness of the trees was a young man who was perhaps a little older than Bolt wearing a black and green samurai costume, complete with a helmet. "Welcome, traveler. I am Genta, leader of the Viridian Leaf Warriors. I'm guessing that you're on your way to Pewter City."

"You'd be right on that, pal." Bolt confirmed.

"We'd be happy to guide you there." Genta offered. "Provided of course that you pay us a simple toll."

"Yeah, I kinda figured you'd ask me something like that." Bolt replied, recalling what Nurse Joy had told him about the gang of trainers lurking in the woods the day before. "So how much is this little toll of yours?"

"Well if you're not willing to pay in cash, we're more than happy to take something in trade." Genta answered. "You can either give us all of the money you possess, or all of your pokeballs, potions or other similar healing items."

"Wow. You guys have a pretty steep price." Bolt observed. "Well, I thank you guys for the offer to guide me through these woods of yours, but I think I'm gonna pass. I think I can make my way through here on my own."

"I believe you are under the mistaken impression that this toll is optional, traveler." Genta told him. "All who pass through this forest must pay tribute to us."

"Or else what?" Bolt asked.

"Or else we will have to do battle." Genta answered. "If you somehow manage to triumph against us, we will let you pass through without any more trouble. But if we win, we shall simply take whatever it is we desire. So what do you say, traveler? Shall we cross swords, or will you see reason and pay us tribute?"

Bolt smirked and reached for Raikou's pokeball. "Well if those are my only options, then it looks like we're gonna have us a little rumble."

Genta chuckled and pulled out his own pokeball. "So be it. Come forth, Murasame!"

Emerging from Genta's thrown ball was a green and white bipedal creature with an almost insect-like body and a lizard-like head with three short horns on its head. On its back were two pairs of long white wings, and its arms ended with long white blades.

"A Scyther, huh?" Bolt observed. "This is gonna be interesting."

Before Bolt could send out Raikou though, another insect Pokemon suddenly flew down between Bolt and Murasame. It was a large bee or wasp-like insect with two large red eyes and a pair of large wings on its back. The bug's arms and legs were very slender, and its arms ended with two large silvery lances. Around the insect's right ankle was a blue band that looked like some kind of athletic gear.

"It's that Beedrill again!" one of Genta's followers exclaimed.

"That means that girl is trying to interfere again!" Genta responded.

As Bolt tried to figure out what was going on, a small black ball was thrown into the middle of the field and exploded, covering the whole area in a thick black smoke. Suddenly a hand grabbed onto Bolt's wrist and pulled him away. After a few moments, Bolt was pulled out of the cloud of smoke and into another part of the forest that didn't seem to far from where he was. Standing before him was a short girl who Bolt assumed to be at least ten. She had dark-blue hair that was tied into pigtails and a face full of freckles. A pair of thick dark glasses with round frames covered her eyes, while the rest of her outfit consisted of a light-green t-shirt and baggy brown shorts. The Beedrill that Bolt had seen earlier hovered at the girl's side.

"Thank goodness I was able to get you out of there." The girl told Bolt. "You're lucky I was passing by."

"Thanks for the assist, I guess." Bolt replied. "Mind telling me your name?"

"I'm Lorain Verdant." The girl answered. "And you are?"

"Bolt Hanson." The blonde rocker replied.

"Well Bolt, I suggest you come with me." Lorain told him. "Those hooligans are probably going to start searching for us."

Bolt shrugged and nodded before following Lorain through the forest. They walked in silence for several moments. The only sound that could be heard was the buzzing of Beedrill's wings.

"So… Lorain, wasn't it? Mind telling me what the deal is with those samurai rejects back there?" Bolt asked, finally breaking the silence.

"They're this gang of punks who suddenly moved into the forest a little less than a month ago." Lorain explained. "What they do is basically rob trainers who're just passing though. The cops have been trying to take them down, but they're really good at hiding in this place."

"That Genta guy seemed willing to let me go if I was able to beat him in a battle though." Bolt pointed out.

"Yeah, well it wouldn't have been just a friendly little Pokemon battle with that guy." Lorain told him. "Sure it seemed like he was going to fight you one-on-one, but the moment you sent out your Pokemon his goon squad would've sent out a whole swarm of Venomoth and Ariados to gang up on you. A battle like that would've been way too much for a newbie trainer like you."

"But I'm not…" Bolt began to say.

"Would you mind keeping quiet for a few minutes?" Lorain requested, cutting Bolt off. "I may know this forest nearly like the back of my hand, but even I get turned around every now and then."

Bolt complied with Lorain's request, and the two continued to walk in silence with Beedrill still flying beside them. After walking for what seemed like several minutes they came upon a small ancient-looking cabin in a clearing. Sitting on the porch in a rocking chair was an old woman with long grey hair tied in a braided ponytail. She had a kindly face and vibrant green eyes behind a pair of half moon spectacles. The old woman rose to her feet as Lorain and Bolt came near.

"There you are." The old woman spoke to Lorain as she and Bolt stepped onto the porch. "You were gone for so long I was starting to worry."

"Sorry Granny. I got sidetracked when I saw this guy getting ambushed by those Viridian Leaf Warrior punks." Lorain explained.

"Uh, it's nice to meet you, ma'am." Bolt greeted. "The name's Bolt Hanson."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, young man." Granny Verdant told him. "You're welcome to stay here and rest for a bit, if you like."

"You might as well take my grandma up on her offer." Lorain told Bolt. "It'll probably be a little while still before those bandits give up looking for you. They don't bother with this place because they don't think we have anything of value."

Shrugging, Bolt followed Lorain and her grandmother into the house. The inside of the cabin was fairly small and simple. There was a rustic living room that led to a kitchen, two bedrooms and what Bolt assumed might be a bathroom of some kind. On the mantle of the fireplace, Bolt spied a picture of Lorain with a man with light-brown hair and a woman with dark-blue hair like Lorain's, both of whom were wearing glasses. Bolt assumed that the two people in the picture were Lorain's parents.

"If you like, I could show you my training room real quick." Lorain offered, turning Bolt's attention away from the picture.

"Why not?" Bolt replied before following Lorain and Beedrill into the kitchen.

After passing through the quaint rustic kitchen, Lorain led Bolt into a fairly small yet mostly empty room with a single window on the right wall. Hanging in a far corner of the room was a kind of punching bag. The few pieces of furniture in the room besides the punching bag were a couple of small tables littered with bottles of Pokemon vitamin supplements such as Protine and Iron and pieces of computer equipment that one would not expect to find in such an old forest cabin. There was also a single bookcase containing various books that seemed to be about boosting a Pokemon's potential.

"So this is where you and your Pokemon train, huh?" Bolt asked as he looked around.

"It's not much, but it does the job." Lorain answered. "Of course half the time Beedrill and I train out in the forest. I've been working hard to boost his speed and attack stats. His attack stat is about at its peak, but his speed stat still needs a bit of work."

"Is that what the thing on Beedrill's ankle is for?" Bolt deduced.

"Yep. That's a Power Anklet." Lorain confirmed. "It helps boost his speed a lot faster, though it also cuts his speed in half as long as he has it on. But no pain, no gain, right?"

"Are you and Beedrill training like this to get rid of those samurai losers out there?" Bolt asked.

"I'll admit that's my immediate goal, but my long term goal is to become a master Bug Pokemon trainer." Lorain revealed. "And to me, part of that goal involves raising the natural abilities of each Pokemon I raise to its full potential. I've studied for a couple of years trying to find the most effective ways to do just that. My dad even gave me special equipment to measure a Pokemon's stats before he and my mom left."

"Well you certainly seem to know your stuff." Bolt observed.

"You bet I do. And once I take care of those bandits out there, this forest will be safe for newbie trainers to travel through again." Lorain replied.

"Look, I'm not…" Bolt began to say.

"Well, I'd love to spend the rest of the afternoon chatting, but Beedrill and I have some work to do." Lorain told him before he could finish.

At Lorain's direction, Beedrill flew over to the punching bag and began to strike it with the large stingers on his arms. Surprisingly the bag did not at all break from being struck by such sharp weapons. Seeing that Lorain was completely focused on Beedrill's training, Bolt quietly stepped out of the room. Moments later he stepped back out onto the porch and found Granny Verdant sitting on her rocking chair.

"I hope you're not having too boring a stay, young man." Granny told Bolt.

"Not at all." Bolt replied as he sat in the other available rocking chair on the porch. "You've got quite a granddaughter. Of course she seems to think that I'm some rookie Pokemon Trainer when I'm really not."

"Well I don't blame her." Granny chuckled. "Usually the only people we get through this forest are young trainers only just starting out. But I could tell when I saw you that you're a trainer with experience."

"I just wish I could tell that to Lorain." Bolt replied. "Each time I've tried she cut me off because her mind seemed to be on something else."

"Yes, in that way she's just like my son, her father." Granny replied. "Often they get so focused on a single task that they don't notice what's going on around them."

"Where are Lorain's parents, anyway?" Bolt asked.

"Oh, they left at the end of last month on an expedition to Unova." Granny answered. "Lorain was supposed to begin her own journey with the Weedle I had given her. But then those hoodlums suddenly moved into the forest and began making trouble. Lorain has lived in this forest for most of her life, and she can't stand seeing being ruined by the likes of these Viridian Leaf Warriors. I'm afraid that very soon she's going to try and take them on by herself."

"Yeah, seemed to me like she was gearing up to do that too." Bolt agreed. "If it was just between her and that gang's ringleader, her Beedrill could probably take down that guy's Scyther. But if these guys fight as dirty as she says they do, she's gonna need backup to take them down."

* * *

><p>After almost an hour and a half training with Beedrill, Lorain had secretly gone out to face the Viridian Leaf Warriors. She had inadvertently located the gang's hideout only four days before, but had decided not to face them until Beedrill was just a bit stronger. The bluenette found Genta and his followers sitting around in the small clearing that had become their camp eating what looked to be their lunch. Lorain assumed that the food they were eating had been stolen.<p>

After taking a deep breath, Lorain stepped into the clearing. "Hey!"

Genta and his followers stopped eating and looked. "Well, well. If it isn't that meddling girl who's been trying to interfere with us."

"I've come to put an end to this, Genta!" Lorain told him. "You and me are going to battle, and if I win you and your thugs have to leave this forest!"

"Alright then." Genta agreed as he stood up. "I accept your challenge."

Before a battle could begin though, the sound of an electric guitar riff broke through the silence of the forest. Everyone looked around to see where the sound was coming from and soon saw Bolt walking into the clearing.

"Looks like I got here just time." Bolt observed. "I figured something like this might happen."

"What the heck are you doing here?" Lorain demanded to know.

"I'm here to back you up." Bolt answered. "You can't take on all these guys on your own."

"I have a much better chance than a newbie like you does!" Lorain told him. "Just go back to the cabin. I'll be fine on my own."

"So, the quarry that got away from us this morning has returned." Genta observed. "Attack, my legion! Show these fools no mercy!"

Genta's eight followers threw out several pokeballs and a hoard of Bug Pokemon burst out. There were sixteen insects in all. Eight of them were large purple moth-like bugs with three long horns that Bolt knew as the species, Venomoth. The other eight were large red and black striped spider-like Pokemon called Ariados. They had four yellow and purple-striped legs with two similar leg-like spikes on its abdomen that pointed backward at an upward angle. On the forehead of each Ariados was a large white spike.

"This'll be a piece of cake!" Bolt confidently declared as he threw his own pokeball. "Let's rock, Raikou!"

The tiger of thunder burst out of its ball with a roar, shocking Genta and his followers. Lorain was quite shocked to see the legendary beast as well.

"What… how…?" Genta uttered. "Who are you?"

"Me? I'm the badass rocker of Sinnoh, Bolt Hanson." The blonde proudly announced. "Raikou, use Roar!"

Raikou let out another loud roar that echoed throughout the entire forest. The Venomoth and Ariados all flinched at the sound and returned to their pokeballs.

"I guess you guys could try to send out those bugs of yours again, but do you really think any of 'em can take on Raikou?" Bolt asked.

"Boss, what do we do?" one of Genta's followers asked.

"I'll tell ya what you can do. You can be a real man and fight Lorain one-on-one." Bolt told him. "Or you can all just turn tail and run like the whips you really are."

"Me? Run away? How dare you insult my honor?" Genta protested. "Once I defeat this meddling girl, I shall take you on next!"

"Got 'em warmed up for ya little lady." Bolt told Lorain. "Knock him dead."

"Let's get this over with!" Genta decided with the throw of his ball. "Come forth, Murasame!" The mantis Pokemon flew out of its ball.

"Go Beedrill!" Lorain called with her own throw.

Beedrill flew out of the ball and hovered before Lorain. Lorain walked over and tapped the blue band on his leg, causing it to expand and slip off his leg.

"I know your speed still isn't at its highest, but I can't have the anklet slowing you down right now." Lorain told Beedrill. "Let's both do our best."

"Murasame, attack that pathetic Beedrill with Fury Cutter!" Genta commanded.

"Dodge and use Twineedle!" Lorain ordered.

Murasame flew at Beedrill and swung his scythe-like blades at him. Beedrill quickly moved left then right to dodge both attacks and then struck the mantis twice in the chest with his lances.

"Now use Poison Sting!" Lorain commanded.

Still at close range, Beedrill thrust his abdomen forward and struck Murasame in the chest with his large stinger. Murasame staggered backward a bit after being stung and his face suddenly turned a bit purple.

"Alright! He's poisoned!" Lorain enthusiastically observed. "I've got you right where I want you now!"

"Don't underestimate me, girl!" Genta told her. "Murasame, use Wing Attack!"

Murasame recovered a little from Beedrill's last attack and his wings began to glow white. With amazing speed, the mantis Pokemon flew at Beedrill and struck him in the chest with his right wings, nearly knocking Beedrill to the ground.

"Oh no! A critical hit!" Lorain exclaimed.

"Let's end this farce!" Genta decided. "Murasame, use X-Scissor!"

"Beedrill, use X-Scissor too!" Lorain ordered.

Just as Murasame began to turn around, Beedrill quickly recovered and turned around as well, crossing his lances in the process. As the lances began to glow red, Beedrill flew at the mantis Pokemon just as Murasame was about to cross his own blades. When Beedrill got in range, he slashed Murasame in the chest with the tips of his lances, creating a red X of light. Murasame fell forward to the ground and was unconscious. Scowling, Genta called Murasame back to his ball.

"You may have won this first round, but our war has only just begun!" Genta declared.

Suddenly several police officers emerged from the trees and surrounded the group. Accompanying the officers were several orange-red dogs with cream-colored fur on their tails and chests, which both Bolt and Lorain knew as the Pokemon, Growlithe.

"Nobody move!" a female voice ordered. Walking into the clearing was a green-haired woman in a police uniform who Bolt instantly recognized as Officer Jenny. "Viridian Leaf Warriors, you're all under arrest!"

"Aw crap! How'd the heck they find us?" one of Genta's followers asked.

"This… this is impossible!" Genta exclaimed as his face turned pale. "There's no way they could've found this hideout!"

"Fortunately for us, we were led here by the sound of a roar we heard no too long ago." Officer Jenny revealed.

"That was Raikou you probably heard, Officer Jenny." Bolt informed her.

Officer Jenny looked at Bolt and Raikou in amazement. "Uh… uh Raikou? Wow! And here I thought Tiffany was yanking my chain when she said she treated one of those yesterday."

"Tiffany?" Bolt asked with a quirked brow.

"Oh, that's the Nurse Joy in Viridian City." Officer Jenny explained. "Anyway, I'd like to thank you very much for your assistance. Because of you, we can now take these kids into custody."

"This… this can't be happening!" Genta spoke as one of the officers cuffed him.

"Dang it, Tony! This is all your fault!" one of Genta's followers told him. "You and your stupid samurai films!"

"Let's all go out to the woods and live like bandits, you told us!" another of the followers complained. "It'll be cool, you told us! If we end up getting the same cell in juvie, I am so gonna kick your butt!"

"So who are these losers, anyway?" Bolt asked.

"Oh, just some prep school kids who thought it would be cool to live like medieval bandits." Officer Jenny answered. "Well, we better get them back to the station. Thanks again."

As Officer Jenny and her officers left with their prisoners, Lorain put the power anklet back on Beedrill and then walked up to Bolt. "So… you're not a newbie trainer?"

"Nope. I started my journey in my home region of Sinnoh." Bolt confirmed. "Came in as one of the top four as the Sinnoh League. I spent a lot of time in Johto too, course I was mostly there to catch Raikou here. But now I'm here to take on the gyms of Kanto and enter the Indigo League."

"Gee, I never expected that such an experienced trainer might end up traveling through this forest." Lorain confessed. "I mean… if you're so good, why would you even bother?"

"You kidding? The thing about being a trainer is that the journey never really ends." Bolt told her. "There are a lot of new places to see and new challenges to take on. And the challenge I'm taking on right now is to take this region by storm."

"I guess I never really thought about it that way before." Lorain admitted. "Say Bolt… would it be okay if I traveled with you for awhile? I mean for one thing, I know this forest pretty well, so I can find us the quickest way out of here to Pewter City. And while I haven't actually traveled to a lot of places in Kanto, I know a lot about the region from what I've read in books. I could help guide you around. So how 'bout it?"

"Hmm… well, I do get kinda tired of traveling solo every now and then." Bolt admitted. "Sure, you can tag along."

"Awesome! Thank you so much!" Lorain told him. "We'll stop by Granny's first, then we can be on our way. This is going to be so much fun!"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Before anyone reading asks, Lorain is not the love interest for Bolt who I implied would be showing up in this story. I had two reasons for coming up with Lorain's character. The first was because I simply wanted a main character that used a Beedrill. That's one of my all time favorite Pokemon. The second reason I will reveal in time.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	3. Skins

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

><p>Chapter 3: Skins<p>

Thanks to Lorain guiding the way, it had only taken a little over two hours for Bolt to get out of the massive Viridian Forest. When they had exited the forest, the pair found themselves upon an open road through vast prairies. For Bolt, it was a somewhat welcome change compared to the dense forest that had practically blocked out the sun. It was only a fifteen-minute walk along that trail before Bolt and Lorain arrived within the limits of Pewter City. Upon their arrival, they quickly spotted the local Pokemon Center for a quick visit.

"Say Bolt, I know we're here mostly so you can take on the city's gym, but Pewter City has one of the best museums in region." Lorain mentioned as they walked. "I was hoping that since we're here, we could stop by and check it out before hitting the gym."

"Fine with me, I guess." Bolt agreed. "I'm in no big rush to get to the gym, and the Indigo League's still a long way off."

After getting a few directions from the Pokemon Center's Nurse Joy, Bolt and Lorain headed into the city to find the museum. It wasn't long before they found their destination sitting atop a small hill. It was a fairly large and impressive-looking white building with a set of large steps leading to doors framed by Romanesque pillars. As they came near though, Bolt and Lorain suddenly heard the loud sound of someone playing the drums.

"Is there a band around here or something?" Lorain asked over the drumbeat.

"Sounds like it's probably just one guy." Bolt replied. "But whoever it is sounds pretty good."

Letting his musical interest get the better of him, Bolt headed for the sound of the drums. Lorain followed, and they quickly figured out that the sound seemed to be coming from behind the museum. Heading up the hill and walking around, the pair found a young man furiously playing a drum kit in a fenced in area behind the museum. He looked to be about Bolt's age and had straight black almost shoulder length hair. A pair of orange sunglasses covered his eyes, while the rest of his outfit consisted of a grey t-shirt with a black leather vest and black jeans, along with a pair of fingerless black gloves and grey boots.

Seeing that the gate to the fence was unlocked, Bolt and Lorain headed into the little yard. The drummer seemed completely unaware of their arrival. When the dark-haired drummer finally finished his solo Bolt clapped, causing him to notice the pair.

"You're pretty good, dude!" Bolt praised. "That was some of the best drumming I've ever heard."

"Thanks." The dark-haired drummer flatly replied as he stood up.

"You mind telling us your name?" Bolt requested.

The drummer looked at Bolt and Lorain for a few moments. "Skins."

"Nice to meet ya." Bolt replied. "I'm Bolt Hanson, and little lady who's with me is my current sidekick, Lorain."

"Hey! Where the heck do you get off calling me your sidekick?" the bluenette protested. "And furthermore, I don't think it's a good idea for us to even be back here!"

Just then, the backdoor of the museum opened, and walking out was a man with long black hair tied in a ponytail wearing a white lab coat and a pair of glasses with square frames. "What on earth is going on out here?"

"See? I told you!" Lorain told Bolt, pointing at the man in the lab coat.

The lab coated man turned to Skins. "Ted, are these two friends of yours?"

"Nah. Never seen 'em before." Skins shrugged. "I'm goin' for a walk. Later."

With that, Skins walked past Bolt and Lorain with his hands in his pockets and left through the gate. The dark-haired man gave a heavy sigh as he left.

"He doesn't seem very sociable." Lorain remarked.

"I apologize for that." The dark-haired man told them. "My nephew has never really seemed to get along well with people."

"It's no problem." Lorain told him. "In fact we should probably be apologizing for trespassing."

"Oh don't worry about it. This yard isn't exactly a high-security area." The man replied. "I'm Roger Vincent, one of the researchers here at the museum. You've already met my nephew, Ted. Or Skins, as he likes to be called."

"I didn't think Skins was his real name." Lorain noted before turning to Bolt. "Come to think of it, what kind of name is Bolt? That can't be your real name."

"Uh, your nephew's a pretty awesome drummer." Bolt told Roger, seemingly ignoring Lorain's question. "As a musician myself, I gotta say I'm impressed."

"Yes, Ted is very talented." Roger agreed. "But I do worry about him a great deal. Why don't you both come inside for tea?"

"Sounds good." Bolt agreed. "What do you think, Lorain?"

"Fine with me, I guess. But seriously, what is your real name?" the bluenette asked again.

Bolt once again ignored Lorain's question and the followed Roger into the building. In moments they had arrived at Roger's office, which was a good-sized but disorganized room littered with books, papers, and rare stones and fossils of all kinds. Bolt and Lorain sat at the large table in the middle of the room while Roger brought over the tea.

"My nephew has always been quite introverted." Roger began as he sat down. "When Ted was very young, his parents died in a plane crash as they were heading back from a vacation in Unova. As Ted's only living relative, it became up to me to raise him."

"Does he have any friends?" Lorain asked.

"None accept for the few Pokemon I've given him." Roger answered. "Ted keeps to himself and rarely speaks to anyone, not even me. He spends most of his time playing those drums of his. I've tried more than once to get him involved with people his own age with no success. Recently he's begun to worry me even more. He's been leaving without telling me, going off to who knows where for hours at a time. When it comes to Ted, I'm at my wits end. If something doesn't change soon…"

"I wouldn't worry about Skins too much, Mr. Vincent." Bolt told him. "He may not talk much, but I'm pretty sure he's not nuts or anything."

"I only wish I can be as sure as you can about that." Roger sighed. "But enough about me and my nephew. I'm sure you came here originally to visit the museum. If you like, I can give you both a special tour."

"That'd be great." Lorain agreed. "I've never been in the back halls of a museum here."

"If you like, I can show you the machine we have here to revive Pokemon from fossils." Roger offered. "I've actually used it myself a few times. In fact, most of the Pokemon I revived I gave to Ted."

With that, Roger gave Bolt and Lorain a tour of the museum. After showing them the fossil machine, which was revealed to have been originally at the lab on Cinnabar Island, Roger showed them the rest of the museum. Bolt and Lorain saw skeletons of prehistoric Pokemon and various rare rocks and stones from all over the Pokemon world. After about half an hour, the tour had ended and Bolt and Lorain went outside to sit on one of the benches out in front of the museum.

"You know, I can't help but keep thinking about Mr. Vincent's nephew." Lorain remarked. "At least my parents come home every few months."

"Your parents are like researchers or something, right?" Bolt asked.

"Yep. They travel all over the world to study different Bug Pokemon." Lorain confirmed. "They're the reason I want to become a skilled Bug Pokemon master. What about your parents, Bolt?"

"Well, my dad's a power plant worker in Sinnoh." Bolt revealed. "Guess he's the reason why I'm so into Electric Pokemon. My mom's a music teacher, though she teaches mostly classical stuff."

"Guess we can't help but being like our parents in some way, huh?" Lorain observed. "But poor Ted… all he has is his uncle."

"Ah, Skins is okay." Bolt assured her. "Sure he's a little different, but he's not a mental case or anything like that."

"But keeping to himself and playing the drums almost all the time?" the concerned bluenette pointed out. "Leaving without any warning to do who knows where? Calling himself Skins?"

"Hey, I call myself Bolt." The blonde rocker pointed out.

"So, then you admit that Bolt isn't your real name." Lorain observed with a wry smirk. "Then just what is your real name, Mr. Hanson?"

As Bolt began to panic a tiny bit, he and Lorain suddenly heard the sound of Skins at the drums. "Uh, hey! Sounds like Skins came back. I'm gonna go say hi."

With that, Bolt quickly got up and went back around to the museum yard. He found Skins sitting at his kit engrossed in another furious drum session. Smirking, Bolt took his guitar in hand and went through the gate.

"Yo Skins!" Bolt called, causing the drummer to stop playing and look. "How 'bout you and me have a little jam session?"

"…Sure." Skins agreed.

Bolt walked over and readied his guitar. "Give me a beat."

Skins began to play a beat on his drums, and soon Bolt began playing along. The air quickly became filled with the sound of an improvised rock melody that eventually caused Lorain to silently come back to the yard and watch. After about five minutes, the jam session between the two came to an end.

"You're good." Skins told Bolt.

"You too." Bolt replied. "I haven't played like that in a long time."

Skins glanced and noticed the pokeballs hanging from Bolt's belt. "You a trainer?"

"Among other things." Bolt confirmed. "Your uncle mentioned that you have a few Pokemon yourself."

"Yeah." Skins replied. "Wanna battle?"

Bolt chuckled. "Sure, why not?"

With that, Bolt and Skins moved to face one another in the small yard with Lorain continuing to watch. As the two musicians prepared to face off, Roger emerged from the backdoor.

"What's going on?" Roger asked.

"Ted challenged Bolt to a Pokemon battle." Lorain explained.

"A battle? But Ted's never fought a Pokemon battle before." Roger revealed. "In fact, the only Pokemon he has that could do well in a battle is the first one I ever gave him."

"Go Kabutops!" Skins called as he threw out a pokeball.

Bursting out of Skins' ball was a bipedal almost trilobite-like creature that stood a little over four feet tall. It had a large flat crescent-shaped head with two small eyes and a mouth on front. The front of its torso was light grey while the rest of the body was light brown. Its back was covered in armored plates that resembled a spine, with a long piece at the end that was like a tail. The creature had very slender arms and legs, and instead of hands it had two long scythe blades.

"A Kabutops? But Ted shouldn't have that Pokemon!" a surprised Roger exclaimed. "Unless… the Kabuto I gave him years ago evolved."

"Let's rock, Magnezone!" Bolt called with his own throw. The saucer Pokemon flew out of the ball to hover before Kabutops.

"Aqua Jet!" Skins commanded.

Kabutops crouched down and tucked in its limbs before suddenly becoming shrouded in water. The prehistoric creature took off like a rocket rammed into the front of Magnezone, causing it to spin in the middle of the air after being hit. After the attack, Kabutops landed and stood behind the magnetic Pokemon.

"Use Thunderbolt!" Bolt commanded.

After recovering from the attack, Magnezone spun back around blasted Kabutops with a bolt of yellow electricity from its magnets. Kabutops cried out and fell to one knee when the attack ended.

"Dig!" Skins ordered.

Kabutops recovered and suddenly burrowed into the ground, diving into it almost as if it was water. Only a moment later, Kabutops burst up from the ground and rammed into Manezone from beneath. The saucer Pokemon was hurled through the air but managed to stay airborne.

"Thunderbolt one more time!" Bolt commanded.

Magnezone fired another bolt of electricity at Kabutops. After being struck, Kabutops collapsed to his side and was out cold. Skins silently called back the prehistoric creature to its ball.

"Not bad for a first round." Bolt remarked. "But c'mon, I'm sure you can do better than that, Skins."

"Go Armaldo!" Skins called as he threw a second pokeball.

Bursting out of the ball was a five-foot tall bipedal creature that looked like a cross between a dinosaur and a shrimp. It was primarily bluish-grey in color and on its back was a pair of insect-like stone wings that were black on the underside and had yellow trim. At the end of its long tail was a pair of black fin-like blades. Its mantis-like arms extended from the front of its yellow chest. Each side of the creature's neck had three white feather-like fins with red tips. Its eyes were on the sides of its head and on top was a back patch with two red spots.

Lorain's eyes instantly lit up upon seeing the prehistoric creature. "Oh wow! A real live Armaldo! Never even in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would see such an incredible Bug Pokemon!"

"It must've evolved from the Anorith I gave Ted after I came back from a dig in the Hoenn Region." Roger observed. "But how could both it and Ted's Kabuto have evolved?"

"You know, maybe all those times Ted just left without telling you were times when he'd go out to train his Pokemon." Lorain suddenly realized. "He might have even been fighting other trainers."

"Ted's been training in secret?" a surprised Roger asked. "I had absolutely no idea he might be doing something like that."

"Bulldoze!" Skins commanded Armaldo.

Armaldo cried out and stomped the ground with its right foot, sending a massive wave of earth at Magnezone. Magnezone was hit by a shard of ground from beneath and was thrown back a bit.

"Fight back with Magnet Bomb!" Bolt commanded.

Magnezone crackled with blue electricity and a ball of energy formed on its right magnet. When the energy ball got large enough, Magnezone fired the ball at Armaoldo and hit the shrimp creature in the chest.

"Stone Edge!" Skins commanded.

Armaldo cried out again and several shards of rock suddenly appeared and orbited around the prehistoric shrimp. With a movement of Armaldo's arms, the shards flew through the air and pelted Magnezone. The magnet Pokemon suddenly crashed to the ground and was unconscious.

"Not bad." Bolt declared as he called back Magnezone. "But this battle's just gettin' started. Let's rock, Luxray!" The electric lion burst out of its ball. "Use Iron Tail!"

"Bulldoze!" Skins ordered.

Armaldo stomped on the ground and sent a wave of earth at Luxray. Before the wave could hit though, Luxray leapt high into the air and avoided attack. The lion flipped through the air towards Armaldo as the star on the end of its tail glowed and became like steel. Armaldo was struck in the chest and staggered back a few steps. After the attack, Luxray flipped back and landed to glare at the prehistoric shrimp.

"Finish it with Wild Charge!" Bolt commanded.

Before Armaldo could recover from Bolt's attack, Luxray charged at Armaldo and became covered in yellow electricity. The blue and black lion rammed full speed into Armaldo's chest and knocked it onto its side unconscious. Skins silently called Armaldo back to its ball.

"Ted's actually a pretty good trainer." Lorain observed. "Sure Bolt's ahead, but he's putting up a good fight."

"Yes. I have to admit that I'm very impressed." Roger replied.

"So your nephew has only one Pokemon left, right?" Lorain asked.

"Yes, an Aerodactyl. It was a very first Pokemon I ever gave Ted." Roger revealed. "I revived it from a rare piece of Old Amber the museum had just gotten in to put on display. The director was a bit furious at me, but he softened quite a bit when he saw how happy Ted was with his first Pokemon."

"That's nice." Lorian replied. Seconds later she panicked a bit when she realized what Skins' final Pokemon was. "Wait, an Aerodactyle? As in one of the most brutal Prehistoric Pokemon to ever exist?"

"Well yes, but Ted's Aerodactyl is fairly tame." Roger told her. "Hardly a Pokemon that could be a major threat in battle."

"But your nephew's been training in secret." Lorain pointed out. "That Aerodactyl of his has to have gotten pretty strong."

"Hmm… well, now that you mention it, you're probably right." Roger realized. "Oh dear. Your friend might be in real trouble in this battle."

"Go Aerodactyl!" Skins called as he threw his final pokeball.

Flying out of the ball with a shriek was a large wyvern-like Pokemon with stone-grey skin and great wings that were purple on the inside. It had a large jaw and its mouth was filled with sharp fangs.

Bolt chuckled a bit upon seeing the dragon-like creature. "Now things are getting interesting."

"Ice Fang!" Skins commanded.

"Fight back with Charge Beam!" Bolt ordered.

Aerodactyl flew straight down towards Luxray. Luxray looked up and fired two beams of yellow energy from his eyes. The beams struck Areodactyl in its right wing and caused it to falter slightly, but the stone wyvern continued toward Luxray and opened its jaws. As Aerodactyl came near, an icy mist poured from its mouth. The wyvern bit down on Luxray's back and hurled the lion across the lot with a swing of its head.

"Sky Drop!" Skins ordered.

Just as Luxray got back to his feet, Aerodactyl swooped in and grabbed the lion with its large talons. After taking off straight back into the air, Aerodactyl stopped several feet above the yard and hurled Luxray towards the ground. The impact created a huge cloud of dust, but when the dust settled Luxray was still on his feet.

"Whoa! To think that Bolt's Luxray could still fight after taking such a beating." An impressed Lorain spoke.

"Hey Skins, what's say we end this?" Bolt suggested.

To that, Skins nodded. "Ice Fang!"

"Use Wild Charge!" Bolt ordered.

Aerodactyl flew down and came straight at Luxray as an icy mist poured out of its mouth. At the same time, Luxray charged full speed at the wyvern as he became shrouded in electrical energy. Both Pokemon collided full force, creating an explosion. When the smoke cleared, Luxray was still on his feet while Aerodactyl was on its back unconscious. With the battle at an end, Bolt and Skins called back both their Pokemon and walked towards one another. After a moment of silence, both trainers gripped one another's hand out of respect.

"You're a pretty tough trainer." Bolt told him.

"You too." Skins replied with a small smirk.

"Ted." Roger spoke, causing Skins to look. "That was an impressive battle. But why did you never tell me that you've been training."

Skins shrugged. "Thought you'd freak out."

"Freak out? Why would you think that?" Roger asked.

"You do that a lot." Skins answered.

"Are… are you saying that I've been a little overprotective?" Roger asked. Skins nodded. "Well if I have been, I'm sorry. I just worry about you sometimes, Ted. Especially recently. For one thing, you always seem to keep to yourself. You hardly bring friends over to our home."

"I've brought guys over before." Skins revealed. "You've always been busy."

"Have I?" Roger asked as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Uh, say Mr. Vincent. How often do you work in that office or lab of yours?" Bolt asked.

"Well now that you mention it, I…" Roger began. "Oh dear. I guess I do perhaps throw myself into my work a little more than I should. Sometimes half a day goes by without me even noticing. I'm sorry, Ted."

"No big deal." Skins shrugged.

"It is a big deal." Roger told him. "I've been so worried about you and so consumed by my work that I never did the one thing that I should've been doing, listen. You have your own way of speaking to the world, and I never took the time to understand it. But it seems that young Bolt has."

"Hey Skins, you know Lorain and I are going to be travelling all over Kanto." Bolt informed him. "We'll be back on the road once I take on this city's gym. How 'bout you join us?"

Skins looked over to Roger. "Uncle?"

"I think a trip like that is a fine idea." Roger smiled. "It'd give you a chance to see the world."

"Well Skins?" Bolt asked.

"…Sure." Skins finally replied after a moment.

"Awesome! Now let's get to the Pokemon Center to get our guys patched up." Bolt decided.

"Hey Bolt, how 'bout on the way there you tell me your real name?" Lorain suggested as they began to walk.

"So Skins, is there anything cool in this city besides the museum and the gym?" Bolt asked, completely ignoring Lorain's question.

"Oh c'mon, Bolt! Please?" Lorain begged. "Can't you just give me a hint? C'mon!"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Back when I came up with the members of Bolt's band for Best Wishes Revised (which takes place after this story), I only had kind of a rough idea for each of the band members. All I had figured out about Skins at the time beyond his name and appearance was that he was from Pewter City and talked very little. So the hard part of this chapter was figuring out what exactly his backstory was. Incidentally, the other reason I came up with the character of Lorain was because I felt like there would've been lack of dialogue for the next few chapters if it was just Bolt and Skins.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	4. Bolt Meets Brock

**Author's Note:** My guest reviewer, Random asked me a few questions about this story in the last review that I feel I should take the time to answer. The first question was about what the length of this story was going to be. This story will be covering all eight of the Kanto gyms, though one gym battle will not be shown (try and guess which one). While I can't give a definite length in regards to how many chapters this story will have, I can at least say with some certainty that there will be over twenty chapters at least. As for classic anime characters like Professor Oak or Ash's mother appearing in this story, I really can't say for sure. Though there will be at least one very classic character from the anime appearing in this chapter.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

><p>Chapter 4: Bolt Meets Brock<p>

It was fairly early in the morning as Bolt left his room at the Pokemon Center. He and Lorain had decided to stay the night there after his battle with Skins, due to how late it had become. After meeting Lorain in the hallway, the two of them went down the stairs and found Skins waiting for them. As the trio prepared to leave, they suddenly noticed that Nurse Joy seemed to be having a somewhat loud and animated conversation with someone at the front desk. The person in question was a fairly young man with brown hair and tan skin wearing a green vest with an orange t-shirt and brown jeans.

"C'mon, all I'm asking for is one dinner." The young man told Nurse Joy. "I know a great place here that has a spectacular view of Mt. Moon. Not that a view like that is as gorgeous as you, of course."

"I already told you, I have plans." Nurse Joy told him as her left eye twitched a little.

"Oh c'mon! Can't you wash your hair another night?" the young man asked.

At that point, a pink egg-shaped creature wearing a nurse's hat came in with a tray of pokeballs, alerting Nurse Joy. "Oh look! Chansey's back your Pokemon, which means we're done here."

"Okay, okay. I get the picture." The young man sighed as he took back his two pokeballs. "I'll see you later though, okay?"

"Have a pleasant day!" Nurse Joy told him with a very insincere smile.

With that, the young man left the Pokemon Center, walking past Bolt and the others. Nurse Joy let out a heavy sigh as soon as he was gone.

"Was… was that guy hitting on Nurse Joy?" Lorain asked.

"Sure looked like it." Bolt confirmed. "Can't say I really blame him, actually. All the girls of the Nurse Joy family are pretty easy on the eyes. Though I'm more partial to Officer Jenny myself. Not that I've let any of those babes in blue know my true feelings, of course."

"Hey! Guitar boy!" Nurse Joy called, causing Bolt to flinch.

"And she probably heard you." Lorain assumed. "Which means she's going bite your head off, which is probably what you deserve."

"You're going to take on the gym today, right?" Nurse Joy asked Bolt.

"Uh, yeah?" Bolt answered.

"Well that guy you just saw in here was the gym leader, Brock." Nurse Joy revealed. "Do me and every member of my family a huge favor and pound his ass into the ground!"

"You really must not like the guy." Lorain observed.

"That guy is known for hitting on every woman in my family he sees." Nurse Joy revealed. "Not to mention every woman in the Jenny family too. For a while it wasn't so bad because he traveled around for a couple of years. But now that he's back running the gym instead of that father of his, I have to deal with that idiot's flirting every single day!"

At that moment, the city's Officer Jenny entered the building. "Hi Debby, how's your morning been?"

"Not very good, Trudy." Nurse Joy answered as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"Oh god, was that guy here again?" Officer Jenny deduced.

"He had to get a couple of his Pokemon treated after an early morning gym battle." Nurse Joy answered. "And of course while he was here, he tried to ask me out for like the two hundredth time. The best excuse I could come up with this time was the old 'I'm washing my hair' dodge."

"Yeah, he was by my office yesterday afternoon trying to ask me out. Twice!" Officer Jenny revealed. "And for the twentieth afternoon in a row, too."

"Couldn't you like, I don't know… arrest him or something?" Nurse Joy asked.

"I threatened to arrest him for harassing an officer a few days ago, but he said he likes being handcuffed." Officer Jenny answered. "I don't think I want to go down that road."

"Then I guess we both have only two options." Nurse Joy sighed. "Put in for a transfer, or hope that trainer over there with the guitar beats that loser so bad that he no longer has the will to keep hitting on us."

Officer Jenny looked over at Bolt. "You're the one who's going to challenge the gym?"

"Yeah?" Bolt confirmed.

"Then we're both counting on you to win." Officer Jenny told him. "You'll be doing us and this city a great service if you do."

"I'll do my best." Bolt replied, and with that he left with Lorain and Skins.

"Did any of that seem a bit weird to you guys?" Lorain asked as they walked toward the gym.

"Totally." Skins answered.

"All I know is I suddenly feel a lot more pressure to win this thing." Bolt told them. "Hey Skins, you know what kind of Pokemon this gym leader uses?"

"Rock-types." Skins replied.

"You don't say." Bolt smirked. "So I guess our little battle yesterday was a warm-up for this one. You know, the first gym in my home region of Sinnoh is also a rock-type gym. In fact the leader there uses Fossil Pokemon."

"Seriously?" an intrigued Skins asked.

"Yep. Gave me a pretty hard time too." Bolt confirmed. "Of course I was younger and inexperienced back then."

Within moments, the trio arrived at the large single floor building that was the Pewter City Gym. Inside the massive arena they found the young man who they now knew as Brock looking over something written on a clipboard.

After a moment, Brock looked up from what he was reading and noticed them. "Oh! Hi there. Is one of you here for a gym battle?"

"That'd be me." Bolt confirmed as he stepped forward. "I'm Bolt Hanson, the badass rocker of Sinnoh."

"You're from Sinnoh, huh?" Brock observed as he set down his clipboard. "You sure have come a long way."

"So I heard that you're the gym leader here." Bolt told him.

"Only temporarily." Brock informed him. "These past few weeks I've been getting things ready for my younger brother to take over. For now, I'll be the one you'll be fighting."

"Then let's get this show on the road." Bolt decided.

With that, Brock left momentarily and came back with a referee. Lorain and Skins meanwhile had gone to sit on the bleachers to watch the battle. Within moments, Bolt and Brock took their positions on the field.

"This match will be a two-on-two Pokemon battle!" the referee announced. "Only the challenger will be allowed to switch Pokemon during the battle! Begin!"

"Since you're from Sinnoh, you're obviously an experienced trainer. Which means I won't have to hold anything back!" Brock decided as he threw out his first pokeball. "Go Golem!"

Bursting out of Brock's ball with a thud was a fairly large creature with a spherical body covered in flat dark-brown rocks. It had a light-brown almost reptilian head on the front of its body and thick light-brown stone-like arms and legs.

"Oh crud!" Bolt exclaimed.

"Oh no! Golem's a rock and ground-type." Lorain realized. "Which means all of his Pokemon are at a huge disadvantage."

"Well go on. Send out whatever Pokemon you like." Brock told him.

"Dang it! You're on, Luxray!" Bolt called with the throw of his own ball. The electric lion burst out to face Golem.

"An electric-type. A pretty bold choice." Brock remarked.

"Yeah, well all I have are Electric Pokemon." Bolt admitted as he rubbed the back of his head. "It's sorta become my image."

"Well there's nothing wrong with that." Brock assured him. "Say, I bet you spent a lot of time in Viridian Forest trying to hunt down a Pikachu. I've heard that there are a few of them living there, though they're pretty hard to find."

This revelation caused Bolt's eyes to widen behind his sunglasses. "There are Pikachu in that freakin' forest?" He looked back at Lorain. "Did you know about this?"

"Well, now that you mention it I have seen one or two Pikachu around Granny's cabin every now and then." Lorain admitted. "But I never really paid any attention to them since I'm all about Bug Pokemon."

"Aw dammit!" Bolt cursed.

"I'm sorry, Bolt." Lorain told him. "I mean if I had known you liked Electric Pokemon so much back then I probably would've said something."

"And having a cute Pokemon like that with me would've gotten me so many babes too!" Bolt exclaimed.

"You really think that having a cute Pokemon like Pikachu would've got you more girls?" an intrigued Brock asked.

"Sure, dude. The ladies dig trainers with cute Pokemon." Bolt told him. "Heck, a if I had a Pikachu combined with my natural charm, I would've had to beat girls off with a stick."

"Hmm… I never thought about that before." Brock spoke as he stroked his chin. "Now I'm starting to wish I had my old Vulpix back."

Bolt snapped his fingers. "Dude! You should totally get a Chansey!"

"Why do you say that?" Brock asked.

"Well you dig the Nurse Joys, right? Having a Chansey with you might be just what you need to get them more interested in you." Bolt explained. "A Growlithe might do the same thing with the Officer Jenny clan."

"Hmm… a Chansey." Brock repeated to himself.

"You guys are both exactly what's wrong with the male gender!" an outraged Lorain told Bolt and Brock. Skins meanwhile simply rolled his eyes.

"Um, could we get back to the battle now?" the referee requested.

"Oh, right." Brock replied. "Golem, use Earthquake!"

"Hit Golem with Iron Tail!" Bolt ordered.

Golem roared and the ground of the arena began to shake. A split second before that though, Luxray leapt into the air and flipped towards the rock creature. The star on the tip of Luxray's tail turned to metal and struck Golem on the top of its spherical body. After the attack landed, the ground stopped shaking and Luxray flipped back to stand before Golem.

"That looked like a critical hit!" Lorain observed. "Maybe Bolt has a chance of winning this battle after all."

"Golem, use Heavy Slam!" Brock commanded.

With that, Golem jumped into the air despite its bulk and tucked its head and legs into its body. After spinning in the air momentarily, the boulder Pokemon dropped down onto Luxray, crushing the electric lion beneath its massive weight. After a moment, Golem rolled off Luxray. Luxray managed to get back on his feet but was breathing heavily.

"Use Rollout!" Brock ordered.

"Fight back with Signal Beam!" Bolt commanded.

Luxray glared at Golem and fired twirling beams of red and green light at Golem. The boulder Pokemon was hit in the face by the attack and staggered back. After a moment, Golem tucked its head and limbs back in and rolled its body towards Luxray. The boulder Pokemon went off course though and instead crashed into a large brown rock that was part of the arena terrain.

"Looks like Luxray's Signal Beam managed to confuse Golem." Lorain observed.

"Okay Luxray! Use Iron Tail one more time!" Bolt commanded.

Before Golem could get back up, Luxray jumped back up to the air and flipped back down, slamming the star at the end of his tail right on top of Golem. When the attack ended, Golem rolled onto its back and was unconscious.

"Golem is unable to battle!" the referee declared. "Round one goes to Bolt and Luxray!"

"You're pretty good." Brock told Bolt as he called back Golem. "But this battle's not over yet! Go Onix!"

Emerging from Brock's thrown ball was an immense serpent with a segmented body made of grey boulders. On the beast's forehead was a long straight horn made of the same rock as the rest of its body.

"Aw crap!" Bolt exclaimed. "Don't you have any Rock Pokemon that aren't ground-types?"

"Where'd be the challenge for you in that?" Brock pointed out.

"Dammit! Okay Luxray! Use Iron Tail again!" Bolt commanded.

"Use Dig!" Brock ordered.

Before Luxray could make a move, Onix suddenly burrowed into the ground. A few seconds later the rock serpent burst through the arena floor right under Luxray's paws. Luxray was hurled through the air and hit the ground with a crash. The electric lion was unconscious when the dust settled.

"Luxray is unable to battle!" the referee declared. "Round two goes to Brock and Onix!"

"Gee, and it really looked like Bolt was going to win this." Lorain spoke as Bolt called back Luxray. "But in the end, I guess an electric-type can never surpass a ground-type. It's almost like a man trying to defeat a god."

Lorain's words suddenly made Bolt remember his battle with Richter in Viridian City and of the ground-type user's arrogant attitude. All the frustration from that battle came back and lit a blazing fire under Bolt.

"No way." Bolt spoke as his hands balled into fists at his sides. "There's no way I'll ever cave in like that! Ground-type Pokemon or not, I'm gonna win this battle!"

Brock smirked. "That's the kind of attitude I like to see. Show me what you've got!"

"Let's rock, Magnezone!" Bolt called as he threw his next ball. The magnetic Pokemon flew out to face Onix. "Use Metal Sound!"

Magnezone let out a horrible shrieking noise that sounded similar to the blade of an electric saw cutting through a nail magnified by a megaphone. Brock, Lorain, Skins and the referee all covered their ears while Onix roared in pain.

"Now use Magnet Bomb!" Bolt ordered.

Magnezone crackled with blue electricity and fired a blue ball at Onix. The bomb exploded as soon as it struck the rock serpent in the side.

"Use Dig, Onix!" Brock commanded.

"Dodge and use Magnet Bomb again!" Bolt ordered.

Onix recovered from Magnezone's attack and burrowed back down into the ground. Seconds later the serpent burst up from the ground right under the magnetic Pokemon, but Magnezone managed to move out of the way at the last moment. Magnezone fired another ball of energy from its magnet, this time hitting Onix in the face. Onix fell to the ground like a tree that had been chopped down and was out cold.

"Onix is unable to battle!" the referee declared. "Victory of the match goes to Bolt and Magnezone!"

With that, Bolt and Brock called back their respective Pokemon. After that, Brock walked over to the blonde and reached into his pocket.

"Well, you managed to beat me. So here's the Boulder Badge." Brock told Bolt, handing him a small grey badge that resembled a stone.

"Thanks man." Bolt replied as he took the badge. "You were a pretty tough opponent."

"You too." Brock praised. "How 'bout we go to the Pokemon Center together and get our Pokemon treated?"

"Sounds good to me." Bolt agreed.

With that, Bolt and company returned to the Pokemon Center with Brock. Nurse Joy seemed quite crestfallen when she saw that Brock still seemed to have his fighting spirit. As Nurse Joy saw the Bolt and Borck's Pokemon, the group sat down to talk.

"So Brock, you said before that you were handing over the gym to your little brother." Bolt recalled.

"Yeah. Before, my dad was left in charge of the gym while I traveled around with some friends of mine." Brock revealed. "But he got tired of doing after awhile, and my brother Forest really wants to be a gym leader. So I came back to town to show my brother the ropes for a bit. When he's ready to take over, I'll be back on the road again to pursue my own goals."

"Just what is it that you want to do?" Lorain asked.

"My dream right now is to become a Pokemon Breeder." Brock revealed. "But who knows? Maybe that'll change."

At that point, Nurse Joy and Chansey came back with Brock and Bolt's pokeballs. "Well, your Pokemon are back to perfect health. Brock, are you sure you aren't feeling bad about your recent defeat?"

"I'm fine. It's all part of being a gym leader." Brock replied as he and Bolt took their pokeballs. "Of course if you feel like you need to comfort me…"

"No, I don't think so." Nurse Joy told him before he could finish. "I should be going. I have… things to take care of."

With that, Nurse Joy calmly walked away. Chansey quickly waddled off to catch up to her.

"Okay, Brock man? I've gotta be honest ya. Your approach to getting the ladies is all wrong." Bolt told him. "You're coming off way too desperate."

"Am I really?" Brock asked.

"Oh yeah." Bolt confirmed. "Look, if you've got the rest of the day, I think you and I should have a long talk about a little thing called charm."

* * *

><p>It was quite early in the morning as Nurse Joy sat down at the front desk to begin another day. As she fired up her computer, Bolt came downstairs with Skins and Lorain.<p>

"So, I'm guessing you're all heading off to Cerulean City?" Nurse Joy assumed.

"Yep. And thanks to our new buddy Brock, we're pretty well stocked for the trick there." Bolt replied.

"I'll say. This Pokemon food that Brock made is quite impressive." Lorain praised. "And he even gave me a few tips to help Beedrill finish his speed training faster."

"You know, I thought I overheard Brock mention that he was only going to be gym leader temporarily when you were all here yesterday." Nurse Joy recalled. "Did, um… did he mention how long he was going to be here?"

"Didn't he say it was going to be like a month or so?" Lorain asked.

"I think so. Hey Skins, did Brock say he was going to be around here for one month or two?" Bolt asked. Skins held up three fingers. "Three months. Okay. Well, we'll be seeing ya, Nurse Joy."

"Uh… yeah. Take care." Nurse Joy told them as they left. Suddenly the phone at her desk rang, prompting her to pick up. She immediately recognized the voice of the Nurse Joy who oversaw all the Pokemon Centers of Kanto. "Yes ma'am…. My transfer's been denied? Yes ma'am, I understand. Thank you." She dropped the phone instead of hanging it up and slumped back in her chair. "I'm going to lose my mind."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> I hope everyone enjoyed the comic relief I tried to inject into this chapter. This was also my first attempt at writing a Pokemon story with Brock in it, so I hope I did okay.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	5. The Song on Mt Moon

**Author's Note:** As I'm sure everyone reading is aware, Christmas is only just around the corner. It always seems so far off in the distance at the beginning of the month and then just zooms right in. Anyway, because of the upcoming holiday there will obviously not be any updates to this story on Christmas Eve of Christmas Day. I'm sure everyone had already assumed as much, but I thought I should say something anyway. There will be updates tomorrow and Tuesday though.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

><p>Chapter 5: The Song on Mt. Moon<p>

It had become the early afternoon as Bolt, Lorain and Skins made their trek through Mt. Moon. For the last half hour or so, the trio had been walking in silence as Skins used a pair of drumsticks he had brought with him to play imaginary drums in the air. They all came to a sudden stop in their assent on the trail though when they heard a sound echoing through the air. The sound was that of a young woman singing, and to Bolt it was perhaps the most beautiful sound he had ever heard. Within seconds, another voice joined in on the song, yet though it was a feminine voice it was not singing in a language that any of the trio recognized.

"That song sounds to pretty." Lorain declared. "I wonder where it's coming from?"

"Dunno." Bolt replied as he walked forward. "But I'm gonna find out."

In moments Bolt had made it to the top of the slope he and the others had been climbing and stopped to take a look around. Despite the echo, Bolt felt certain that the mysterious singers were very close. As he tried leaning forward to get a better idea of where the song was coming from, his right foot slid on the gravel of the trail and suddenly began to tumble down the side of the mountain, alarming Lorain and Skins. Bolt didn't slide down very far before the back of his head hit a large rock and everything went dark.

* * *

><p>Bolt awoke to find that his head was throbbing with pain. As his vision slowly came into focus he saw what was perhaps the most beautiful face he had ever looked upon starring down at him. The face was that of a young woman who looked to be about fourteen. She had very pale-blue eyes and long wavy dark-brown hair that shimmered like a star-filled sky.<p>

"Oh good, you're finally awake." The young woman spoke in a voice that Bolt found oddly familiar.

"Uh, yeah." Bolt replied. "Hey. This might sound like a stupid question, but I am alive, right?"

"Well of course you are." The young lady chuckled. "Why would you think otherwise?"

"Well, you look like an angel, so I kinda wondered." Bolt explained.

Bolt's comment made the young lady blush. "Um, my name's Christine. Christine Wyler."

"I'm Bolt Hanson." The blonde rocker replied as he tried to sit up. As he did, he suddenly felt a wave of dizziness wash over him.

"You probably shouldn't try to move too much right now." Christine told him. "You took a pretty bad fall."

As Bolt took a quick look around, he saw that he was in a bedroom with white walls and two large windows with white silk curtains. The quality of the pieces of furniture in the room told Bolt that he had landed himself in quite the fancy place.

"Where am I anyway?" Bolt asked.

"This is my family's villa on Mt. Moon." Christine answered. "I was out taking a walk when you suddenly came down the mountain and landed right in front of me. You didn't fall very far though. That trail you were on was only a few feet above where we are now. I see hikers and other young trainers like you go along that trail half the time I'm here."

"Um, you know I had a couple friends traveling with me." Bolt informed her.

"They're here too." Christine assured him. "They came running down the hill after you and helped me get you inside. You've been out cold for about three hours, by the way."

"Where are they now?" Bolt asked.

"They're out on the patio." Christine answered. "I can take you to them, if you like."

"That'd be great." Bolt agreed.

Slowly, Bolt got off of the large bed he was on and managed to stand up. He quickly found his faithful guitar leaning against the nightstand where his sunglasses had been placed. To Bolt's relief, the guitar seemed to be undamaged. Suddenly walking into the room at that moment was a small pink creature with a round body and a cute face with two small pink eyes and cheeks that were a darker shade of pink. Towards the top of its body were two large pointed ears with black tips, and in between them was a curled tuft of hair or fur. On its back were two small fairy-like wings and a large curled tail.

"Oh cool! A Clefairy." Bolt identified. "Is it yours?"

"Why yes." Christine confirmed. "I also have a Swablu that's out on the patio with your friends." She then turned to Clefairy. "Go on out to the patio. We'll be there in a moment."

Clefairy smiled before turning and skipping out of the room. Bolt and Christine followed after the little pink Pokemon and soon they were out on the patio of the large two-story villa. Bolt quickly found Lorain and Skins sitting at a small table. He also noticed a fairly small blue bird with a large off-white beak and two large wings like white pieces of cotton perched on a little stand that he instantly recognized as a Swablu.

"Bolt! You're awake!" Lorain happily observed as she and Skins stood up. "We were starting to worry."

"Sorry to freak you out like that, guys." Bolt told them as he sat in an available chair. "I think I'm okay though. So besides worrying over me, have you two been up to anything while I was out?"

"Well, I captured this while I was out in the garden." Lorain answered as she pulled out a pokeball. "Go!"

Emerging from Lorain's thrown ball was an orange bug-like creature with two large front legs and a pair of large blue eyes. Growing on its back were two small red mushrooms with yellow spots on them.

"Oh, a Paras." Bolt identified. "But are you sure it was okay for you to catch that thing?"

"Oh, it's fine." Christine assured him. "We get wild Pokemon in our garden here all the time."

At that moment, walking out onto the patio was an older and distinguished-looking woman with short blonde hair that had a few streaks of grey in it. She had on a pink business-like dress with long sleeves and white gloves. Between the fingers of her right hand, the woman held a slender black cigarette holder.

The woman looked at Bolt with a rather displeased expression. "Well, I see our very unexpected houseguest is finally awake."

"Bolt, this is my mother, Audrey Wyler." Christine introduced. "Mother, this Bolt Hanson."

"Charmed." Audrey replied. "That's an… interesting name you have, Mr. Hanson. Surely it can't be your real name."

"Mother!" Christine protested.

"Well, uh… actually it isn't." Bolt admitted as he rubbed the back of his head.

"I knew it!" Lorain quietly cheered.

"If it's all the same to you though Mrs. Wyler, I'd prefer to keep my real name a secret." Bolt told her.

"I bet it's something really embarrassing." Lorain assumed, completely ignoring the conversation.

"It makes no difference to me what you call yourself." Audrey indifferently told him. "Anyway, now that you're awake I assume that you and your little friends will be on your way."

"Mother! Bolt just had a very bad fall." Christine reminded her. "He should be allowed to stay the night."

"Well actually, I am feeling pretty good right now." Bolt admitted.

"No, you shouldn't push yourself." Christine told him before turning back to Audrey. "He needs some time to rest, mother. Please let Bolt and his friends stay for just one night."

"You're pushing it, young lady." Audrey warned. "But… I suppose it won't hurt to indulge you for at least one night. But I trust Mr. Hanson and his friends will be leaving first thing in the morning."

"No problem." Bolt agreed.

With that, Audrey turned and went back into the house. Christine let out a heavy sigh as soon as she was gone.

"Well that was kinda harsh." Bolt declared.

"She's a real snob." Skins remarked.

"Skins is right. Mrs. Wyler's been giving us the cold shoulder since we got here." Lorain revealed. "Christine actually had to talk her into taking you in a little bit."

"I'm really sorry about my mother." Christine told them. "She can be very… difficult sometimes."

"Hey, don't sweat it." Bolt told her. "As long as we've got a place to crash, it's no big deal."

"Well, in that case why don't I get you all something to eat?" Christine suggested. "I'm sure you must all be starving."

"Sounds good to me." Lorain agreed.

* * *

><p>Night had fallen on the Wyler Villa, and Bolt was lying wide-awake in the gest room that had been assigned to him. He found that for some reason he couldn't get Christine out of his head. While it was true that Bolt had always been a sucker for cute girls, there was something about Christine that simply seemed to captivate him. Plus there was just something familiar about Christine's voice that he just couldn't quite place. It was something that seemed obvious, yet no matter how hard he tried Bolt couldn't figure it out.<p>

Just then, Bolt heard the sound of the same singing voice that had caused him to fall down the mountainside earlier coming from somewhere down the hall. Getting up, Bolt followed the song and very soon wound up back at the open door to the patio. Christine was standing outside with Clefairy and Swablu, singing in the very same voice that had drawn in Bolt. Bolt watched silently and waited for the brown-haired girl to finish her song.

"Wow. That was amazing." Bolt spoke, startling Christine a little. "You have a beautiful set of pipes."

"Uh, thank you." Christine replied with a slight blush. "I'm sorry if I woke you."

"Don't worry, I was wide-awake anyway." Bolt assured her as he walked up. "So I guess you're the one I heard singing before I had my little fall."

"You heard me earlier?" Christine asked.

"Yeah. In fact the reason I fell was because I was trying to hear where that gorgeous voice of yours was coming from." Bolt revealed. "You have one of the most beautiful voices I've ever heard."

"You… you really think so?" Christine asked, her face becoming even redder.

"Totally. Though there is one thing I can't figure out." Bolt told her. "Before when I heard you, it sounded like someone was singing with you."

"Oh, well… actually there was." Christine admitted. "If you really want to know who it was, I guess I could introduce you."

"That'd be awesome." Bolt agreed.

Smiling, Christine produced a pokeball and threw it out. The Pokemon that emerged was a small semi-humanoid creature with a very feminine figure. She had a large almost ovular head with big green eyes and long mint-green hair that looked like music bars with notes flowing down the left side of her. On the right side of the creature's head there was what looked like a black headset microphone that resembled a treble clef. Much of her body looked to be covered in a black dress with a long skirt that opened in front to reveal a pair of thin white legs. Across her midriff was something that looked like a green sash.

"No way…" an awestruck Bolt spoke. "Is that… a Meloetta?"

"I guess you've heard of this Pokemon before." Christine observed.

"You kidding? There isn't a musician in the world who hasn't heard of Meloetta." Bolt answered. "My mom talked about this Pokemon a lot when I was a kid."

Bolt knelt down and attempted to get close to Meloetta. Frightened, the songstress Pokemon quickly hid behind Christine's legs.

"It's okay, Meloetta. He's a friend." Christine assured her.

Hesitantly, Meloetta got out from behind Christine. Slowly she went up to Bolt and took the blonde rocker's hand. After seeing that Bolt wasn't a threat, Meloetta smiled.

"How the heck did you manage to catch her?" Bolt asked.

"My family and I were vacationing in Unova about a year and a half ago and one afternoon I had decided to got for a walk with Clefairy." Christine began. "I was singing to myself just like you heard me doing a little bit ago when suddenly I heard that someone was singing alongside me. When I turned around, there was Meloetta. At the time though, Clefairy was trying to sing with me when Meloetta suddenly joined me. I guess she was a little offended, because the next thing I knew she attacked Meloetta. She was hit pretty hard by Clefairy's attack and, well… I just couldn't resist trying to catch her. It only took me one Pokeball."

"Wow! That's one outstanding catch." Bolt declared.

"Clefairy was actually pretty jealous of Meloetta at first, but they became friends pretty quickly." Christine revealed. "You know, Bolt… Meloetta's not a Pokemon that I usually show to other people. I mean my parents know of course, but… you're the only person I've ever felt comfortable showing her to."

"Well, in that case I'm honored." Bolt replied.

Before the conversation could go further, the sound of an explosion rang through the mountain air. Bolt and the others instantly became more alert.

"That sounded like it came from just up the hill." Christine realized. "There's a cave up there that's home to a lot of wild Pokemon."

"You know why anyone would want to try and blow it up like that?" Bolt asked.

"Not a clue." Christine answered.

At that point, Lorain came out onto the patio with Skins. "Did you guys just hear an explosion?"

"Yeah. Christine thinks someone's blowing the heck out of a cave not far from here." Bolt answered.

Skins' eyes widened upon seeing Meloetta. "Dude! Is that…?"

"Later, Skins! Right now I think we better take a look at what caused that explosion." Bolt decided.

"I'm coming with you." Christine told him.

"You sure?" Bolt asked.

"Don't worry. I can handle myself." Christine assured him.

"Well… okay then." Bolt replied. "Let's get going!"

With Christine guiding the way, Bolt and the others reached a small cave and found men who seemed to be digging around with shovels for something at the mouth of the cave. They were all dressed in black uniforms, each with a large red R on the front of the shirt. One of the men was portlier than the other four and seemed to be standing around giving orders while the others dug.

"Who the heck are these guys?" Lorain quietly asked.

"I've seen these losers before." Bolt told them. "They're with a gang called Team Rocket, and whatever the hell they're after it can't be good."

Suddenly the portly leader of the Team Rocket agents glanced back noticed Bolt and the others. "Hey! What the hell do you brats think you're doing here?"

"We were just about to ask you the same thing." Bolt calmly replied as he stepped up. "Mind telling us why you're blowing up this little cave?"

"That's none of your damn business!" the lead agent told him.

"We're lookin' for Moon Stones to sell on the black market." Another of the agents revealed.

"You idiot! Who the hell said you could answer them?" the lead agent scolded.

"Sorry, boss." The agent from before replied.

"Hey boss! That one girl looks like she has a Meloetta!" another of the agents realized. "If we could nab that Pokemon, we could make a fortune!"

"Not a bad idea." The lead agent agreed. "Okay you grunts, get 'em!"

"Go Raticate!" the other four agents called as they threw out their pokeballs.

Bursting out of the balls were four large rodent-like creatures that looked like a cross between a rat and a hamster. They had long cord-like tails and their bodies were covered in matted brown and cream-colored fur. Each of the four creatures had a mouth that showed a very large set of front teeth.

"This'll be a snap! Let's rock, Raikou!" Bolt called with his own throw. The tiger of thunder burst out of its ball with a roar.

"Go Aerodactyl!" Skins called as he threw his own ball. The stone wyvern flew out to hover next to Raikou.

"Let's go, Beedrill!" Lorain called with her own throw. The blunette's faithful wasp Pokemon flew out and joined Raikou and Aerodactyl.

"Use Sky Drop!" Skins ordered.

Aerodactyle quickly swooped in and grabbed the Raticate on the far left with its talons and took it up high into the air. After getting up several feet, Aerodactyl flung the Raticate into the ground with enough force to create a small crater. Raticate was out like a light before the dust settled.

"Use Twineedle!" Lorain ordered.

"Get that Beedrill with Quick Attack!" one of the Team Rocket agents commanded.

The Raticate that Beedrill flew towards suddenly vanished and reappeared a split second later to deliver a kick to Beedrill's back. The insect Pokemon recovered, turned around and thrust his two lances into Raticate's chest.

"Use X-Scissor!" Lorain commanded.

Beedrill crossed his lances together and they quickly began to glow red. Before the Raticate could react, Beedrill flew in and slashed the rodent in the chest, leaving red marks in the form of an X. The slashed Raticate fell forward to the ground unconscious.

"Use Thunderbolt!" Bolt commanded.

Raikou roared and shocked the remaining two Raticate with bolts of yellow lightning. Both of the rodent Pokemon staggered momentarily before falling to the ground. Seeing that their Raticate were unable to fight, the Rocket agents called them back to their balls.

"C'mon you wimps! Send out the next wave!" the lead agent ordered.

"But boss, we don't have any more Pokemon on us!" one of the other agents told him. "HQ only assigned us those Raticate for this job."

"Oh fine! Looks I gotta do everything!" the lead agent complained. "Go Weezing!"

Emerging from the lead agent's thrown ball was a large floating grayish-purple ball with several bumps on it and a large face without a nose. Just below the face was a white symbol that resembled a skull and crossbones symbol. Attached to the left side of this creature was a smaller almost identical ball with a similar face.

"I'll handle this!" Christine declared. "Meloetta, use Psychic!"

Meloetta raised her arms forward and her eyes began to glow green. Suddenly Weezing glowed with a green aura and was hurled into the side of the mountain.

"Let's end this!" Bolt decided. "Raikou, hit 'em with another Thunderbolt!"

Raikou roared and let loose another bolt of yellow lightning. The bolt struck at the feet of the Rocket agents and hurled both them and Weezing into the sky. Bolt and the others stood and watched as the agents faded from view.

"Well, that takes care of that." Bolt smoke. "Let's get to bed. I'm beat."

* * *

><p>It was early in the morning as Bolt and his two traveling companions prepared to set back out on the road to Cerulean City. When the time came to leave, Christine and Audrey showed them to the door.<p>

"Thanks for letting us spend the night here, Mrs. Wylder." Bolt told her.

"Well, what could I do? My hands were tied." Audrey responded. "Good luck with… whatever it is you do." And with that, she went back into the house.

"It was great meeting you, Bolt." Christine told him. "I really hope we see each other again."

"I'm sure we will." Bolt told her before kissing her on the back of the hand, causing her to blush. "Later."

With that, Bolt, Lorain and Skins began to walk away from the villa. Bolt kept looking back and watched as Christine closed the door behind her. A few moments later as they got further away from the villa, the trio could hear the sound of Christine's singing echoing through the mountain.

"She does have a beautiful voice, doesn't she?" Lorain declared.

"She sure does." Bolt agreed. "I don't think I'll ever forget that voice for as long as I live."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> So now we've finally seen Bolt's love interest, and the reason while Meloetta was listed as one of the characters of this story. And this of course is only just the beginning of the love story.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	6. The Nugget Tournament

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

><p>Chapter 6: The Nugget Tournament<p>

It was still fairly early in the afternoon as Bolt sat out on a bench in front of the Cerulean City Gym. Lorain and Skins were sitting next to him on either side. For the last five minutes, Bolt had simply been looking at a small blue badge in the shape of a water drop that he held in his fingers. This was the gym badge of Cerulean City, and it had been far easier for him to win than he thought it would be. Though having the badge meant that he was one step closer to the Indigo League, Bolt couldn't help but feel disappointed.

"You know guys… that was a really weak gym battle." Bolt finally declared.

"I'll say." Lorain agreed. "I've never even heard of a gym battle being won by a challenger in less than two minutes."

"It was barely one." Skins interjected.

"I know I had a major type advantage at this gym, but you'd think being a gym battle there would've been a little bit of a challenge." Bolt pointed out.

"Well, those three 'gym leaders' in there seemed like just a bunch of airheads who like to show off in the pool instead of battle." Lorain recalled. "It's not surprising at all that you were able to win so easily."

"Yeah. Sure were easy on the eyes though." Bolt replied. "Maybe not as beautiful as Christine, but…"

"Well, well. Who said anything about Christine?" Lorain asked with a wry smirk. "Could it be that someone has a bit of a crush?"

"Uh…" Bolt responded as his face turned red. "Look, all I'm saying is that it kinda blows that I came all this way for a really lame battle. I just wish there was some kind of challenge in this city to get my blood going."

"Hurry, hurry! Step right up!" a voice suddenly called from nearby. Bolt and the others looked to see a man with slick black hair and a wiry mustache wearing a bad suit and standing behind a little table with a blue cloth. "Come and sign up for the first ever Cerulean City Nugget Tournament! Only three more spots available."

Letting their curiosity getting the better of them, Bolt and the others went over to the man's table. "Hey dude, what's all this stuff about a tournament?"

"I'm glad you asked, young man." The gentlemen replied. "First of all, let me introduce myself. The name's Murdock, Lyle Murdock, and I'm here to get trainers interested in Cerulean City's first ever Nugget Tournament. The first prize for winning is a spectacular Gold Nugget."

"That's not bad, I guess." Bolt shrugged.

"And a month's supply of Pokemon status enhancers." Lyle added.

"Did you say status enhancers?" Lorain excitedly asked.

"Not to mention a very rare Pokemon Fossil said to be from a far away region." Lyle added.

A determined expression suddenly formed on Skins' face. "I'm in."

"All prizes are provided by the good city of Cerulean, of course." Lyle finished. "Now there are only three spots still open in the tournament, and I can see three very skilled trainers standing before me right here. Interested?"

"Ah, what the heck?" Bolt replied as he took a pen and added his name to the signup sheet on the table. "After the lame gym battle I just had, this might give me much more of a challenge."

"I'm in too." Lorain agreed as she added her own name. "Those status enhancers could be a big help to training Paras, not to mention other Pokemon I'll eventually catch."

As soon as Skins added his own name, Lyle took the sheet and put it into his jacket pocket. "The tournament starts tomorrow morning at 10:00 sharp. I suggest you all get ready."

With that, Lyle began packing up his little table. Bolt and the others meanwhile began to head for the Pokemon Center.

"Man, I am so gonna rock this tournament." Bolt declared.

"Those status enhancers are as good as mine." Lorain declared. At this point, the trio stopped walking as realization hit them. "You… only one of us is going to be able to win the tournament and get that prize."

"Hey, don't sweat it Lorain. It's a big prize, we can just split it up no matter which of us wins." Bolt proposed. "Skins can take that fossil and you can have those stat enhancers."

"And I suppose you'll take that Gold Nugget." Lorain assumed.

"Well, I guess. But I don't really care about that Nugget." Bolt replied. "I'm just in this for the battles. My point is if one of us wins, we all win."

"Sounds like a nice little plan you've all got there." A voice suddenly spoke. "Just one little problem with it though. I'm the one who's gonna come out on top in this tournament."

Bolt and the others turned around to see a young man about Bolt's age with shoulder-length straight black hair standing behind them. He had on a black headband along with a jean jacket over a purple t-shirt with a white skull on the front, and a pair of tattered black jeans. Slung over the young man's back was a black electric bass guitar.

"Who the heck are you?" Bolt asked.

"The name's Ross Jones, and I came all the way from Vermillion City as soon as I heard about this little tournament." The young man answered. "Mind telling me who you are, blondie?"

"Bolt Hanson." The blonde rocker replied.

"Well Bolt, I'm sorry to disappoint you and your two friends here, but that prize is mine." Ross told him. "I'm the one who's gonna win this whole tournament."

"You seem pretty confident." Bolt observed. "My friends and I aren't pushovers, ya know."

"I don't care how good you all are. In the end, I'm still gonna come out on top." Ross declared. "That's because there's one key difference between all of you and me. You're all just fighting for glory, but I'm fighting for something that actually matters. That's why none of you has even the slightest chance of taking me down."

With that, Ross calmly walked off with his hands in his pockets. Bolt pulled down his sunglasses slightly to watch Ross as he left.

"Boy, that guy seems pretty determined." Lorain observed. "You'd think somebody's life depended on him winning this tournament."

"Yeah. Still, with a guy like that in this thing, I think I'm gonna have a blast." Bolt smirked. "Well, we got a whole afternoon and night before the tournament. I think we all better make the most of it and start getting ready."

* * *

><p>The tournament had quickly begun the next morning at 10:00 in a little field just outside the city, with Lyle acting as the master of ceremonies. There were sixteen competitors in all, including Bolt, Ross, Skins and Lorain. Most of the competitors were local trainers while a few were just trainers who were passing through. All of the battles were being fought one-on-one, though the competitors were allowed to use a different Pokemon in each round. Many of the battles in the early rounds of the tournament had taken place simultaneously.<p>

Bolt's first two competitors had been a couple of young trainers from the city. The first had used a Ratatta against him, while the second had used a Spearow. Bolt had defeated them very quickly with Magnezone's help. With nothing but time to kill before the semi-final round, Bolt simply stood around and watched the other trainers compete. At that particular moment his eyes were on Ross' battle with some hiker.

Ross' Pokemon was a creature that could be described as a large ball of off-white fur with muscular brown arms and legs. It had two pointed ears, and its face was a pair of very angry-looking eyes over a pig-like snout. Its hands resembled a pair of boxing gloves, and it had black shackles around its wrists and ankles. Bolt recognized this particular Pokemon species as a Primeape. Ross' opponent meanwhile was using a large grey boulder-like creature with a bumpy surface and a face on the front. The creature was supported by a pair of short yet strong legs on the bottom of its spherical body, and it had two pairs of short yet stout arms. Bolt knew the rock creature very well as a Graveler.

"Primeape, take 'em out with Close Combat!" Ross commanded in the ring.

Primeape quickly charged forward and began to relentlessly punch and kick Graveler. In moments Primape's attack ended and the boulder Pokemon rolled onto its back unconscious.

"Graveler is unable to battle!" the referee in the ring declared. "Victory goes to Ross and Primape!"

After Ross called back Primeape, he turned and glared over at Bolt. Bolt could tell that Ross was gunning for him. After a few more minutes the competitors were down to four. In addition to Bolt and Ross, Lorain and Skins had also made it to the semi-final round. There was a ten-minute break before the round that Bolt and the others used to rest their Pokemon for a bit. When it was over, Lyle stepped up onto the main stage.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen. Now that the preliminary rounds are out of the way, we can now get to the most exciting part of this tournament." Lyle announced into his microphone. "To all the trainers who ended up losing, thank you all for your participation. Now then, for our first semi-final round we have Bolt Hanson and Lorain Verdant!"

The audience who had come simply to watch the tournament cheered as Bolt and Lorain walked onto the main stage. Bolt and Lorain stood across from one another and began sizing each other up.

"I hope you aren't going to go easy on me, Bolt." Lorain told him. "I know I'm not as experienced a trainer as you, but I won't go down easy."

"You don't have to worry about that, little lady." Bolt assured her. "I'm sure you're gonna give me a real challenge."

"Let the battle… begin!" Lyle announced.

"Let's rock, Luxray!" Bolt called with the throw of his pokeball. The electric lion burst out of the ball to glare at Lorain.

"Go Beedrill!" Lorain called with her own throw. Beedrill buzzed out of his ball to hover before Luxray. "Hey Bolt, notice anything different about Beedrill?"

Bolt looked Beedrill over and didn't immediately notice anything particularly different. But when he examined the bug's legs, he noticed that Beedrill was missing a familiar blue anklet.

"Hey, that Power Anklet you had him wearing is gone." Bolt noticed.

"Yep. It took me most of last night, but I finally maxed out Beedrill's speed and attack power." Lorain revealed. "Of course Beedrill's real training has only just begun, but his two strongest attributes have finally reached their peak. You may have thought you knew my Beedrill before, but now you're about to see his true power."

"Well lay it on me." Bolt dared. "Luxray and I are dying to see it. Okay Luxray! Use Charge Beam!"

"Use Swords Dance followed by X-Scissor!" Lorain ordered.

As Luxray's eyes began to glow yellow, Beedrill twirled around in midair and thrust both his lances forward. Beedrill began to glow with a blue aura as he crossed his lances, causing them to glow bright red. With blinding speed, Beedrill flew forward and slashed Luxray in the face. Luxray was knocked back a few feet, but recovered and turned his head to blast Beedrill in the chest with two yellow beams of electrical energy from his eyes.

"Dang! You sure weren't kidding about Beedrill's power." An impressed Bolt observed. "That attack sure did a lot of damage."

"It helped that Beedrill's Swords Dance Move boosted his attack power even more." Lorain told him. "But we're just getting started. Beedrill, use Twineedle!"

"Use Charge Beam one more time!" Bolt commanded.

As Luxray's eyes began to glow again, Beedrill zoomed in and struck the lion twice in the side with his lances before buzzing off. As Beedrill flew away, Luxray caught him in the back with another blast from his eyes. Beedrill swerved in the air for a moment upon being hit but managed to stay flying. Luxray meanwhile stumbled and was starting to breath heavily.

"Oops, looks like Beedrill's Twineedle attack managed to poison Luxray." Lorain noticed. "At this rate, he might not last much longer. You better finish this quick, that is if you can."

Bolt grinned. "Okay then. Let's wrap this up. Luxray! Hit Beedrill with Wild Charge!"

"Move in and use X-Scissor!" Lorain ordered.

Beedrill turned and began to fly top speed towards Luxray as he crossed his lances, causing them to glow red. At the same time, Luxray charged at Beedrill and became shrouded in yellow electrical energy. As soon as Beedril came in range he slashed Luxray in the face, but at the same time Luxray's charge hurled the insect Pokemon all the way across the ring. Beedrill landed on his side in front of Lorain's feet and was unconscious. At the same time, Luxray looked like he was having trouble standing.

"And Beedrill is unable to battle!" Lyle declared. "Victory goes to Bolt Hanson and Luxray!"

As the audience cheered, Bolt and Lorain called back their respective Pokemon. The two competitors walked up to each other on stage.

"Guess I just wasn't quite good enough, huh?" Lorain observed.

"Hey, you gave me and Luxray a real run for our money in that battle." Bolt assured her. "If you had gotten in another hit, we'd have probably been finished. You did great in there."

"Thanks." Lorain smiled. "Well, we should probably go down and watch Skins' battle with that Ross guy."

"Yep. I have a feeling Skins is in for a tough one." Bolt replied, and with that he and Lorain got off the stage.

"Okay! And now for our second semi-final bout, please welcome Skins Vincent and Ross Jones!" Lyle announced.

The audience cheered as Ross and Skins stepped onto the stage. Skins and Ross glared silently at one another across the battlefield.

"Let the battle… begin!" Lyle declared.

"Go Kabutop!" Skins called with the throw of his ball. The prehistoric shellfish burst out onto the stage.

"Guess I can see why a guy like you would be so interested in that fossil that's part of the prize package." Ross observed. "Too bad you're never gonna get your hands on it. Go Machamp!"

Bursting out of Ross' ball was a muscular light-grey humanoid with four powerful arms. It had three darker grey ridges on the top of its head like hair, and around its mouth it had a tan muzzle. The humanoid Pokemon wore a pair of black shorts with an ornate gold championship belt like the kind worn by boxers or wrestlers.

"Not good! Ross is using a fighting-type." Lorain noticed.

"That seems to be his specialty." Bolt noted. "Earlier I saw him using a Primeape. But this battle really is gonna be a tough one for Skins."

"Kabutops! Aqua Jet!" Skins commanded.

"Use Vital Throw!" Ross ordered.

Kabutop crouched down and tucked in his limbs as he became shrouded in water. At the same time, Machamp spread his arms and readied himself as if he was going to try and catch Kabutops. The prehistoric predator took off like a rocket and rammed into Machamp's chest. The muscular Pokemon stood his ground and was pushed back only a few inches. Machamp then grabbed onto Kabutops with all four of his arms and twirled around in circles three times before hurling Kabutops away, flinging him into the floor of the stage. Kabutops hit the ground with enough force to create a small crater.

"Finish this off with Submission!" Ross ordered.

Just as Kabutops started to get back up, Machamp ran over and pulled the shellfish to his chest. He then jumped back and turned in midair, falling so that Kabutops was crushed into the stage. When Machamp got back up, Kabutops was out cold.

"Kabutops is unable to battle!" Lyle declared. "Victory goes to Ross Jones and Machamp!"

Ross and Skins called back their respective Pokemon and walked off the stage. Once they were off, Ross walked over to face Bolt.

"Looks like it's gonna be you and me next, blondie." Ross told him. "You better be ready for a world of hurt."

"Lookin' forward to it." Bolt replied. "This final round is gonna be a real blast."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> In case anyone reading hadn't figured it out yet, the Cerulean City Gym battle was the single gym battle that was not going to be shown in this story. I just didn't think there was any point to it, considering how incompetent Misty's sisters were and the fact that Bolt uses all Electric Pokemon. I just didn't feel like it would've been much of a chapter. So since I wasn't going to show the gym battle, I decided that Bolt and his friends needed something else to do while in Cerulean City. Thus I drew inspiration from the old Nugget Bridge or Nugget Challenge from the old Generation 1 games and came up with this little tournament. In the end, the tournament idea had also given me a much better way to introduce Ross to the story.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	7. Ross

**Author's Note:** So from what I've gathered from the most recent reviews, it seems like I botched the last chapter. For that, I apologize. I guess I should've tried harder to get Bolt's gym battle with Misty's sisters work as a chapter. Maybe if I was a better writer, I could have. I'm also sorry if the Nugget Tournament wasn't all that it could've been. Anyway, I hope this next chapter makes up for my errors a bit.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

><p>Chapter 7: Ross<p>

After Skins' battle with Ross, there was a fifteen-minute break to allow audience members to get up, stretch their legs and perhaps even get some refreshments. But more importantly, it allows the remaining competitors a chance to heal their Pokemon for the final battle. As Bolt waited at the temporary Pokemon Center that had been set up on the tournament grounds with Skins and Lorain, he kept thinking about how he was going to handle Ross. It was clear that his white-haired rival was no pushover. Bolt knew that it was probably going to take everything he had to take Ross down.

"You know, you could just use Raikou to beat Ross." Lorain suggested.

"Nah, that wouldn't be cool." Bolt told her. "I want to give the guy a shot at taking me down. Besides, what kind of trainer would I be if I kept relying on Raikou every time I went up against a super powerful opponent."

"Yeah, I guess that's true." Lorain admitted. "Still, Ross seems like a pretty brutal trainer. It's like he's fighting in this tournament like his life is on the line."

"You noticed that too, huh?" Bolt replied.

At that moment, Nurse Joy returned with the pokeballs of Luxray, Beedrill and Kabutops. "Here you go. You're Pokemon are back to perfect health."

"Thanks a bunch." Bolt told her as he and his friends took back their respective pokeballs.

"So I guess if you're not going to use Raikou, then I guess you're planning to use Luxray again." Lorain assumed.

"Pretty much." Bolt confirmed. "I mean with Ross using all those fighting types, Magnezone wouldn't last very long."

_"Will both finalists please report to the stage?"_ Lyle's voice requested over the PA system. _"The final match is about to start."_

"Well, looks like I'm on." Bolt observed. "Time to rock this tournament."

Within moments, Bolt walked onto the stage while Lorain and Skins stayed on the sidelines to watch. After Ross walked onto the stage, he pointed at Bolt and gave him the thumbs-down sign.

"Let the battle… begin!" Lyle declared.

"Let's rock, Luxray!" Bolt called with the throw of his pokeball. Luxray burst out to glare at Ross.

"Time to break out my first and strongest Pokemon! Go Poliwrath!" Ross called with his own throw.

Emerging from the ball to face Luxray was a bipedal dark-blue creature with a pair of almost frog-like eyes on top of its body. It had two thick powerful-looking arms with white gloves on the hands. It had a white chest with a black spiral pattern on the front.

"Dude, a Water Pokemon?" Bolt observed. "There's no need to give me a handicap, ya know."

"Shut up! You know typing isn't everything." Ross reminded him. "Poliwrath! Use Mind Reader!"

"Hit 'em with Wild Charge!" Bolt ordered.

Poliwrath's aggressive-looking eyes began to glow as it glared at Luxray. At the same time, Luxray became shrouded in electricity and began to charge at Poliwrath.

"Now, Dynamic Punch!" Ross commanded.

Just as Luxray was about to collide into Poliwrath, the polliwog Pokemon raised its right arm and its fist began to glow with a green light. With Luxray less than a foot away, Poliwrath swung his glowing fist and hit the electric lion in the face, causing a huge explosion of light. When the smoke cleared, Poliwrath was still standing, though his body sparked briefly with electricity. Meanwhile, while Luxray was still standing he was starting to stagger around.

"Oh no! Not only did Poliwrath's Dynamic Punch do a lot of damage to Luxray, it caused him to become confused." A concerned Lorain exclaimed.

"Now I've got ya!" Ross declared. "Poliwrath! Hit Luxray with Ice Punch!"

"Use Signal Beam!" Bolt commanded.

As Poliwrath raised its fist to move in for another attack, Luxray fired two swirling beams of red and green light that managed to strike Poliwrath between the eyes. The polliwog Pokemon suddenly began to stagger as it charged and tripped, landing on its own fist.

"Now they're both confused!" Lorain observed. "This could end up being a real close battle."

"Dammit! Poliwrath, use Ice Punch!" Ross ordered.

"Hit 'em with Wild Charge!" Bolt commanded.

Luxray began to charge forward as he became shrouded in electricity, but tripped and fell on his side only half way. At the same time, Poliwrath swung its fist through the air and struck nothing, leading it to twirl around and fall had on its back.

"Shake it off, Luxray!" Bolt ordered. "Use Charge Beam!"

After a moment, Luxray managed to get back up, and after shaking his head he glared at Poliwrath and fired beams of electrical energy from his eyes. Poliwrath was struck in the back as soon as it sat up. After a moment, Poliwrath got back to its feet and turned around to glare back at Luxray.

"Guess we can stop messing around." Bolt observed.

"Looks like it." Ross agreed. "Okay Poliwrath, use Scald!"

"Dodge and use Iron Tail!" Bolt ordered.

Poliwrath fired a stream of steaming hot water from its chest at Luxray. Luxray jumped into the air, causing the blast of water to strike the ground. The electric lion flipped through the air as the star on his tail glowed and became like steel. Luxray's tail struck Poliwrath on top of its body between the eyes, causing it to stagger back a few steps. As soon as Luxray landed on the ground, Poliwrath recovered from the attack and stood ready to fight once more.

"You and that Poliwrath of yours sure are tough." Bolt praised. "I wish I had gotten a fight like this at the Cerulean City Gym."

"Shut up!" Ross shot back.

"Dude, you've been taking this battle way too seriously." Bolt told him. "Why can't you just loosen up and enjoy yourself?"

"You have no clue what the hell it is I'm fighting for!" Ross told him. "To you this is just a game, but to me this tournament is a hell of a lot more! A guy like me who's fighting for something important could never lose to a guy like you!"

"What the heck are you talking about?" Bolt asked.

"None of your damn business!" Ross told him. "Poliwrath, use Scald!"

"Charge Beam!" Bolt ordered.

Poliwrath fired another blast of streaming hot water from its chest. Luxray fired two more beams from his eyes that struck the head of the stream and created an explosion of steam, blocking the attack.

"C'mon, dude. Just tell me why you're coming at me so hard." Bolt requested. "Is it the prize that you're after?"

"I told you it's none of your business!" Ross repeated.

"It is, isn't it?" Bolt realized. "You must want that Gold Nugget for something. So why the hell are you fighting so hard for some damn piece of gold?"

"I need it to save my mom! Okay?" Ross revealed, surprising Bolt. "My mom… she's been sick ever since I was little. And now she needs some expensive operation, or else she won't last much longer. My no-good dad managed to send a lot of cash and I've been able to get my hands on most of what we need doin' odd jobs and stuff. But time's running out, and that Nugget is the only thing that'll pay for the rest of the operation! That's why I can't lose this tournament!"

"Dude… I had no idea." Bolt told him.

"Yeah, well I don't need damn pity." Ross told him. "I just need you to lose! Poliwrath, use Ice Punch!"

"So it's gotta be like that, huh?" Bolt replied. "Okay then. Luxray, use Wild Charge one more time!"

Poliwrath ran towards Luxray as fast as its legs could carry it, raising its fist in the air as it became covered in an icy mist. At the same time, Luxray charged at Poliwrath and became shrouded in electricity. Both Pokemon collided and their attacks created another small explosion. When the smoke cleared, Luxray and Poliwrath were still standing and breathing heavily. After a few tense moments though, Poliwrath fell forward and was out like a light.

"Poliwrath is unable to battle!" Lyle declared. "The final battle of the tournament goes to Bolt Hanson and Luxray!"

Bolt and Ross called back their respective Pokemon. Ross stood silently as Lorain and Skins joined Bolt up on stage.

"That was a real nail biter." Lorain declared.

"And now, to the champion goes the fabulous prize!" Lyle announced. A blonde woman in a strapless sparking pink dress walked onto the stage wheeling up a cart with a gold nugget, a large box of status enhancers and a grey rock that resembled a jawbone.

"Well, here we go." Bolt spoke as he took the items from the cart. "Skins, you get the fossil. And you, Lorain get the stat enhancers."

"Thanks." Lorain replied as she and Skins took the items.

"And you, Ross. You get the Nugget." Bolt told him.

"Say what?" a surprised Ross asked. "Why the hell are you giving it to me?"

"Hey, I was never in this tournament for the Nugget. And you need it more than I do." Bolt answered as he held out the hunk of metal. "Go on, take it."

"As if! I don't need your damn pity!" Ross told him.

"Well then maybe I had you wrong." Bolt responded. "Here I thought you were doing this for your mom and not your stupid pride. Just take it and use it to help her."

Gritting his teeth, Ross took the Nugget from Bolt. "I owe you one then."

"You're welcome." Bolt told him.

Ross merely huffed and silently walked off the stage. Bolt smiled and chuckled a bit in response.

"Well guys, let's get back to the Pokemon Center." Bolt decided. "Well head out for the next city tomorrow morning."

With that, Bolt and the others walked off the stage while the audience members began to leave. Moments later as they walked past the bleachers, they found Lyle standing in their path.

"You all put on a fine show in the tournament today." Lyle told them. "If you've all got a minute, I'd like to make the three of you a little offer. I'd make that offer to that boy Ross, but I couldn't catch up to him."

"What's this big offer of yours?" Bolt asked.

"Only the chance to join one of the most prosperous organizations in the world, Team Rocket!" Lyle answered.

"Say what?" Skins replied with a raised eyebrow.

"I'll level with you kids. This tournament was just a way for us to scout for potential new members." Lyle revealed. "Recruitment's been down for Team Rocket recently, and from what I've seen you three would make fine additions to the organization."

"Thanks dude, but will pass." Bolt told him.

"Ah, not so fast. I haven't told you all about the fine opportunities that Team Rocket provides." Lyle continued. "Travel to exciting foreign lands. Exquisite living accommodations in almost any region you want. Not to mention a great salary."

"We just told you, no!" Bolt insisted.

"Come now! Can't you at least think about it?" Lyle asked. "The three of you could all go very far in Team Rocket. One day you might even end up serving as the right hand of our illustrious boss, Giovanni."

"We said we're not interested! Now get lost!" Lorain ordered.

Lyle scowled. "Fine then. Looks like we'll have to do things the hard way. If you won't join willingly, then I guess I'll have to use a little persuasion!" In a flash Lyle removed his horribly colored suit to reveal a Team Rocket uniform underneath. "Go Golbat!"

Flying out of the ball Lyle threw was a large blue bat-like creature with wings that were purple on the inside. It had small leg and tiny pointed ears. The front of its body was one large fanged mouth with two small eyes above it.

"Now then, are you willing to reconsider my offer?" Lyle asked.

Bolt sighed and pulled out a pokeball. "You're on, Raikou!"

Raikou burst out of its ball and roared at Lyle and Golbat. Lyle and his bat Pokemon both went pale upon seeing the legendary tiger of thunder.

"Thunderbolt." Bolt commanded.

Raikou fired bolts of yellow lighting that struck both Lyle and Golbat. Golbat fell to the ground and Lyle was on his back, twitching from the powerful shock he had received.

"What do we do with him?" Lorain asked.

"What else? We turn him in to the cops." Bolt answered. "Man, I'm starting to get sick of this damn city."

* * *

><p>It was fairly early in the morning as Bolt walked out of the Pokemon Center to find Skins waiting outside. Standing at Skins' feet was a two-foot-tall dinosaur-like creature that resembled a baby T-Rex. It was primarily dark-brown in color with a large grey jaw and a grey underside. On top of the little dinosaur's head was a small pair of orange horns.<p>

"Hey Skins." Bolt greeted. "What kind of Pokemon is that with ya?"

"A Tyrunt." Skins answered.

"Let's see." Bolt spoke as he pulled out his Pokedex.

"Accessing International Database." The Pokedex spoke in a mechanical voice. "Searching… species found. Tyrunt, the Royal Heir Pokemon. Fossil records indicated that this Pokemon lived 100 million years ago. Its jaws are thought to be powerful enough to chew up an automobile."

"Geez! This thing's from Kalos?" Bolt read as he looked at the other data on the Pokedex. "I get that you revived it from that fossil I won from the tournament, but I had no clue that rock was from so far away. Wait a sec. How'd you get back to Pewter City to revive the thing?"

"I flew." Skins answered.

"Oh, on Aerodactyl." Bolt realized. He knelt down and held out his hand to the little dinosaur. "Hey there, Tyrunt." Tyrunt responded by biting at Bolt, causing him to quickly pull back his limb.

"Yeah, he does that." Skins informed him.

"Ya could've warned me, dude!" Bolt told him as he held his intact hand.

"Hey." A familiar voice called. Bolt and Skins turned to see Ross standing nearby. "You guys headin' out?"

"Yeah. Come to say goodbye?" Bolt asked.

"As if! I'm coming with you." Ross told him. "I owe you for the Nugget, so I'm sticking with you until I can figure out how to pay you back."

"Whatever, dude. You're welcome tag along." Bolt decided.

At that moment, Lorain walked out of the Pokemon Center and noticed Ross. "Oh, hi Ross. What brings you with?"

"He's coming with us." Bolt informed her.

"Oh… okay." Lorain replied.

"I do have one condition though." Ross told them. "I want us to stop by Vermillion City first so I can pay for my mom's operation."

"No problem. We were heading there next anyway." Bolt replied. "Let's move out."

"Hey, what's that Pokemon with your friend there?" Ross asked as they began to walk, indicating Tyrunt.

"Just don't hold out your hand to it, or it'll bite it off." Bolt answered.

"Um… 'kay." Ross replied.

"This trip just got a whole lot more interesting." Lorain declared.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> I hope it doesn't seem too weird that I brought a Generation 6 Pokemon into this story. Originally I was going to have Skins end up with one of the Fossil Pokemon from Sinnoh, but after I read about Tyrunt I just couldn't resist putting him in.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	8. Electric Soldier

**Author's Note:** Hello again, everyone. I trust everybody reading this had a pleasant holiday. I actually wasn't sure if I was going to work on this chapter today. I had given some thought to just taking another day off from this story and making the next update on Sunday. But there's a certain point I want to get to in this story before January 12th, and this chapter ended up coming together pretty quickly. So without further ado, here's the next installment of Thunder in Kanto.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

><p>Chapter 8: Electric Soldier<p>

It had taken only four days for Bolt and his companions to arrive at the thriving seaport of Kanto known as Vermillion City. Being a native to the city who often traveled to Cerulean, Ross had known of a shortcut in the form of an old underground tunnel that had been built decades ago. As soon as they had arrived in Vermillion, Ross had gone to take care of arranging his mother's operation, leaving Bolt and the others to do a little exploring. While looking around the city, Bolt had encountered a small group of fisherman who ended up giving him one of their fishing rods. Seeing it as a way to kill time, Bolt went with Skins and Lorain to one of the docks to cast his new rod into the water. It was at that dock where Ross eventually found them.

"Well, it's all set up." Ross informed them. "My mom's operation is set for tomorrow morning. If it's okay with you guys, I'd like to stay in town for a few days to make sure she's okay."

"That's cool." Bolt agreed. "We're in no rush to get around Kanto."

"Are you sure it's okay for you to be traveling with us with your mom in less than perfect health?" Lorain asked Ross.

"It's fine. My little sister's gonna look after her." Ross revealed. "She may be a little younger, but she's a hell of a lot smarter than a punk like me."

"How 'bout you dad?" Skins suddenly asked.

"My dad? Well… he's never really been in the picture." Ross informed them. "He may be married to my mom, but his first love's always been the sea. He's got a job workin' out on cargo freighters. I hardly ever see 'im. Usually when he is here though, he's pretty much riding my ass."

"Sounds rough dude." Bolt sympathetically replied.

"Yeah, well… that's just how it is for me." Ross shrugged. "So Bolt, you really gonna try taking on Lt. Surge?"

"That is why we came out here, Ross buddy." Bolt pointed out.

"Lieutenant?" Lorain asked with a raised eyebrow. "Why the heck is a gym leader calling himself Lieutenant?"

"Because he used to be this army guy before he was a gym leader." Ross answered. "I've never tried taking the guy on myself, but everyone in the city knows his story. He uses Electric-type Pokemon, for one thing. He's also probably the roughest gym leader in Kanto. A lot of the Pokemon he beats end up staying in the Pokemon Center for days, sometimes weeks."

"Harsh." Skins declared.

"I'll say. Seems like this Surge guy takes his gym leader job way too seriously." Lorain observed. "Bolt, do you have any idea how you're gonna take him on?"

"Nah, but I'm sure I'll think of something." Bolt answered.

Suddenly there was a strong tug on Bolt's line into the water. Bolt slowly got to his feet as he began to reel in whatever he had snagged. After applying a bit of force, Bolt pulled his catch out of the water. The creature he had reeled in was a fairly small blue fish-like creature with an oval-shaped body. It had two small feet on its underside and two small blue fins on its sides that were almost like arms. Its face was made up of two large yellow eyes with cross-shaped pupils over a small mouth. On top of its body were two long and very slender feelers that ended in two large yellow bulbs.

"Whoa! Awesome, a Chinchou!" Bolt excitedly identified. "I knew fishing around this harbor would pay off. Let's rock, Luxray!" The electric lion burst out of his thrown ball. "Use Charge Beam!"

As soon as Chinchou landed on the dock, Luxray blasted the little angler with two beams of electrical energy shot from his eyes. When the attack ended though, Chinchou's body sparked but it didn't seem to have taken any damage. Instead, Chinchou smirked and there was a glint in its eyes. A ball of multicolored light then formed between the bulbs of Chinchou's two feelers. It swung its two antennas back and flung the ball Luxray, hitting him in the face. Luxray began to stagger around almost as if drunk.

"That Chinchou just used Confuse Ray!" Lorain observed.

Just as it looked like Luxray was about to stagger off the dock into the water, Chinchou opened its mouth and blasted Luxray with a stream of steaming hot water. When the attack ended, Luxray had gained a red mark on his right front leg.

"Now it just used Scald to burn Luxray!" Ross realized. "For a little Pokemon, this Chinchou's kind of a badass."

"Just my kind of Pokemon." Bolt smirked. "Okay Luxray, use Signal Beam!"

Luxray managed to look at Chinchou and strike it with two beams of red and green light shot from his eyes. Upon being hit, Chinchou staggered back a little and twirled around.

"Okay, time to break out that Lure Ball I got while I was on Johto!" Bolt decided as he pulled out a specially designed pokeball. "Go!"

The thrown ball struck Chinchou in the face and sucked it in. The ball jiggled on the dock for a few moments before making the sound that signaled the capture was complete. After called back Luxray, Bolt walked over and picked Chinchou's ball off the dock.

"Okay. I think I've got an idea for how I'm gonna beat this Surge guy." Bolt told the others.

"How?" Lorain asked.

"You'll find out." Bolt smirked. "First though, I better get Luxray and my new little buddy to the Pokemon Center to get fixed up. After that, we're off to the gym."

A few minutes later after getting Luxray and Chinchou's injuries taken care of, Bolt and the others had arrived at the Vermillion City gym. Walking in, they found sitting in a kind of throne at one end of the arena a muscular blonde man wearing a green army uniform. The man stood up as soon as Bolt and the others walked in, revealing his height to be at around seven feet tall. Bolt and the others quickly deduced that the man was none other than the infamous Lt. Surge.

"Well, well. What do we have here?" Lt. Surge asked as he stepped forward. "One of you babies here to challenge me?"

"Guess you're talking about me." Bolt confirmed as he stepped forward. "The name's Bolt Hanson, and I hear you're a pretty tough gym leader."

"I'm as tough as they come." Lt. Surge bragged. "Way tougher than a little baby like you can handle."

"We'll see about that, gramps." Bolt smirked.

"Gramps?" a noticeably ticked Lt. Surge exclaimed. "Why you little punk!"

"Are we gonna get this gym battle going or what?" Bolt asked. "I mean, I'm sure an old timer like you will want to be in bed by at least 7:00."

"That's it! I'm gonna give you and your wimpy Pokemon a world of hurt!" Lt. Surge declared. After snapping his fingers, a male referee in a military uniform ran into the arena and took his place on the field. "Get ready, you smart mouthed brat! By the time I'm through with you, you're gonna need a new set of Pokemon!"

"Bring it, gramps." Bolt dared. "Just don't break a hip."

"What's Bolt trying to accomplish by antagonizing Lt. Surge like that?" Lorain wondered.

Ross chuckled. "I get it. Surge insulted Bolt by calling him a baby, so Bolt's insulting him right back. I gotta give Hanson credit. He sure has some balls. Still, getting Surge ticked off like that will probably just work against him."

"This match will be a two-on-two Pokemon battle!" the referee announced. "Only the challenger will be allowed to switch Pokemon. Let the battle… begin!"

"Go Raichu!" Lt. Surge called with the throw of his pokeball.

Bursting out of Lt. Surge's ball was a fairly large orange rodent-like creature with pinkish-red cheeks and a white chest and belly. It had dark-brown stripes on its back and dark-brown paws. Its ears were yellow, and it had a long dark cord-like tail that ended in a large yellow lightning bolt-shaped blade.

"Let's rock, Chinchou!" Bolt called with his own throw. The little angler Pokemon burst out to face Raichu.

Lt. Surge laughed upon seeing Chinchou. "That's the best you can do? There's no way a little baby Pokemon like that can beat my Raichu! There was a Pikachu once that managed to take him down, but that Pikachu and his trainer had guts! That little fishy of yours on the other hand is nothing but a wimp!"

"Don't count out my little Chinchou just because he's small and un-evolved." Bolt told him. "He might just surprise you."

"Oh yeah? Well let's see how he handles this! Raichu, take that little baby out with Mega Punch!" Lt. Surge commanded.

Raichu charged forward on all fours towards Chinchou. When he got in range, Raichu rose up on his hind legs and swung his right front paw and struck Chinchou in the face. The force of the punch knocked the little angler Pokemon into the arena wall behind Bolt.

"Let's finish it, Raichu! Thunderbolt!" Lt. Surge ordered.

"Rai… CHUUUU!" the electric rodent called out as it zapped Chinchou with a blast of yellow electricity. After the attack ended though, Chinchou suddenly jumped forward and smirked at Raichu with a glint in his eye. Chinchou's body sparked and all the damage he had taken from Raichu's punch seemed to be gone.

"What the…?" a stunned Lt. Surge spoke. "How the hell is that little Chinchou back on his feet?"

"My little buddy Chinchou just happens to have an ability called Volt Absorb." Bolt revealed. "Not only does this ability negate damage from electric attacks, it also uses the energy from this attacks to heal any damage he's taken during the battle."

"I get it! Bolt must've realized Chinchou had Volt Absorb when Luxray's Charge Beam attack failed to do any damage before!" Lorain realized.

"I would've thought that an Electric Pokemon specialist like you would've seen Chinchou's ability coming." Bolt told Lt. Surge. "You must be getting a little senile, old timer."

Lt. Surge gritted his teeth. "Raichu! Pound that annoying little Chinchou into the ground with another Mega Punch!"

"Use Confuse Ray!" Bolt ordered.

As Raichu charged in for another attack, Chinchou used his feelers to throw a ball of multicolored light at the electric rodent. Raichu was hit in the face and suddenly staggered around. Only half way towards Chinchou, Raichu stood on his hind legs and swung a glowing front paw through the air, only to fall hard onto his face.

"Okay, little buddy! Use Scald!" Bolt commanded.

With Raichu still on the ground, Chinchou sprayed out a blast of steaming hot water that hit the rodent in the back. The blast managed to leave a red burn on Raichu's back.

"Dammit! Get up, Raichu!" Lt. Surge ordered. "Use Mega Punch one more time!"

A still very dazed Raichu managed to get back up, only to swing at the air and fall flat on his face again. This time, Raichu was out like a light.

"Raichu is unable to battle!" the referee declared. "Round one goes to Bolt and Chinchou!"

"That was pretty weak, gramps." Bolt taunted as Lt. Surge called back Raichu. "And here I thought you were some badass military trainer, but it looks like all you are is some aging reject from a bad 80s action movie."

"Why you…! That's it! I'm gonna put you in your place right now!" Lt. Surge proclaimed as he threw his next pokeball. "Go Electivire!"

Bursting out of Lt. Surge's ball was a large ape or yeti-like creature that stood at almost six feet tall. It was covered in yellow fur that had black stripes, some of which were shaped like lightning bolts. The creature had a large dome-shaped head with beady red eyes and two short antennas that ended in spheres. Its fingers were black, and it had two long thin black tails that curved upward and ended with small red orbs.

"Not good!" a concerned Lorain declared.

"Electivire, use Giga Impact!" Lt. Surge commanded.

The electric ape ran forward and jumped high into the air. As Electivire plummeted down towards Chinchou it became shrouded in a white energy. Electivire hit Chinchou and the impact raised a huge cloud of dust from the arena floor. When the dust settled, Electivire was standing over an unconscious Chinchou.

"Chinchou is unable to battle!" the referee declared. "Round two goes to Lt. Surge and Electivire!"

"Not so cocky now, are ya baby?" Lt. Surge laughed as Bolt called back Chinchou. "You better get ready, because I'm just getting started with teaching you a lesson!"

"You know… this is starting to get kinda old." Bolt decided. "So I'm just gonna end this! Let's rock, Raikou!" The tiger of thunder emerged from its ball with a roar.

"Wha… what the hell?" a shocked Lt. Surge exclaimed.

"How long has Bolt had that Pokemon?" an equally shocked Ross asked Lorain and Skins.

"Since before coming to Kanto, at least." Lorain answered. "Actually, I'm a little surprised that Bolt's using Raikou in a gym battle."

"Raikou, use Extrasensory!" Bolt commanded.

Raikou's eyes glowed and it fired a yellow beam of light from the crest on its forehead. Electivire was hit in the chest by the attack and stumbled back a step.

"You know Surge, I gotta say that your attitude as a gym leader really sucks." Bolt told him. "You take things way too far. When I was at the Pokemon Center earlier before coming here, Nurse Joy showed me some of the Pokemon that you beat up to warn me about what I was in for. I could see my new pal, Ross wasn't kidding. You've been playing things way too rough at this gym!"

"Shows what a little baby like you knows!" Lt. Surge told him. "I'm just showing you and every brat who comes in here that the road to being a Pokemon Trainer is rough! If anyone who comes to this gym can't handle it, than they should've stayed home with their mommies!"

"Yeah, I get what you're trying to do. But putting Pokemon in the hospital is no way to do that!" Bolt told him. "I get that you're a gym leader and this big military guy and all, but you need to ease up. Because right now you're giving Electric Pokemon Trainers like you and me a bad name!"

"I don't have to take that from you!" Lt. Surge told him. "Electivire, use Thunder Punch!"

Electivire stampeded towards Raikou and raised its right fist as it began to crackle with yellow electricity. The electrical yeti's fist made contact with Raikou's jaw, but the tiger of thunder was unfazed.

"Pretty weak." Bolt declared. "Raikou, use Hyper Beam!"

Raikou opened its mouth and fired a beam of gold energy that struck Electivire in the chest at point blank range. The beam hit with enough force to hurl Electivire into the far wall behind Lt. Surge and create a massive crater. When the dust settles, Electivire fell to the ground and was unconscious.

"When… when did Bolt teach Raikou to use Hyper Beam?" Lorain wondered.

"Must've been the other night before we reached the underground when he went off somewhere to train." Ross assumed.

"Uh… Electivire is unable to battle!" the referee declared. "Victory goes to Bolt and Raikou!"

With the battle at an end, Bolt and Lt. Surge called back their respective Pokemon. Lt. Surge walked towards Bolt as he rubbed the back of his head.

"You're, uh… you're a pretty tough trainer." Lt. Surge admitted. "And you know, maybe you do have a point about me being a little too rough on the trainers who come in here. Truth is I've been getting some complaints from the Pokemon League about all the Pokemon I've been putting in the Pokemon Center."

"You're actually pretty good as a Pokemon Trainer, but you need to dial it down a notch, dude." Bolt told him. "Most of the trainers who come in here are just kids, not soldiers."

"Yeah… I think I've got some thinking to do." Lt. Surge decided. "In the meantime though, here's the Thunder Badge you earned for beating me."

With that, Lt. Surge flipped the little badge to Bolt like a coin. Bolt easily caught the badge in his right hand.

"Thanks. See ya around, I guess." Bolt told Lt. Surge before turning to Lorain and the others. "Let's go, guys."

With that, Bolt and his friends quietly left the gym. They immediately headed for the Pokemon Center as soon as they were outside.

"You were kind of hard on Lt. Surge towards the end there." Lorain noted as they walked.

"Yeah, well guys like Surge have always kinda ticked me off a little." Bolt admitted. "Hopefully now he'll start to lighten up a bit."

"Well I just hope that the next gym leader isn't as aggressive as Surge was." Lorain replied.

"Me too." Bolt agreed. "That battle ended up being kind of a buzz kill."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> To be perfectly honest, out of all the gym leaders in the Pokemon Franchise going by anime portrayal, Lt. Surge is one of my least favorite. He just seemed like a bully to me when I saw him in the anime. Which is kind of why Bolt ended up going all out against Lt. Surge in this chapter.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	9. Richter Returns

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

><p>Chapter 9: Richter Returns<p>

Bolt and his companions had ended up spending almost six days in Vermillion City. The operation that Ross' mother had undergone went well without any complications, and most of the time spent in the city had gone towards Ross and his younger sister getting things prepared for their mother's return and to get things in order before Ross left to travel with Bolt. Bolt's help in these matters had been mostly minimal, as Ross and his sister had wound up doing most of the major things that needed to be done. So in the end, there had ended up being very little else for Bolt to do while in the city, which had started to make him eager to get back out on the road. While he was in no rush to get to the next city and challenge its gym, Bolt had never liked spending too much time in one place.

That afternoon, as Bolt walked back from the docks towards Ross' place, he felt someone tap him on the back of the shoulder. When the blonde rocker turned around, he saw standing behind him a very familiar young woman with brown hair and pale-blue eyes.

"Hi there." Christine greeted.

"Hey." Bolt greeted back. "Sure didn't think I'd run into you here."

"My dad's here on business and he dragged me along." Christine explained. "I'm guessing you came to Vermillion to challenge the gym leader."

"Yep. I came, I challenged, and I kicked his butt." Bolt proudly confirmed. "Of course that was a few days ago."

"Oh, then what are you still doing here?" Christine asked.

"Well, I've got a new traveling buddy who's from here and we ended up staying to help his mom." Bolt explained. "We'll be back on the road tomorrow though. Our next stop's Saffron City. But I guess since we're both here, I guess we can hang out for a bit."

"I'd really like to, but I can't." Christine told him. "In a few minutes I have to be at this party with my dad's business associates in five minutes."

"Well dang. That timing sucks." A disappointed Bolt replied.

"I know." Christine agreed. "But I'm sure we'll run into each other again. For now I just wanted to say hi."

"Well it was awesome seeing you again." Bolt told her.

"You too." Christine replied. The two of them then just looked at each other for a few moments. "Well… later."

"Yeah, later." Bolt told her.

With that, Christine walked off and Bolt watched as she left. As soon as she was out of sight, Bolt continued towards Ross' place. What Bolt didn't know as he walked off though was that someone else had been watching him from an alley.

* * *

><p>It was fairly early in the morning as Bolt and the others prepared to head out. After making a quick stop at the Pokemon Center, the gang headed straight for the city limits.<p>

"Sorry things with my mom took so long." Ross told the others as they walked.

"Don't sweat it, man. It was no big deal." Bolt assured him. "So Saffron City's not far from here, right?"

"Nah. We'll probably be there like the day after tomorrow." Ross answered.

"Hanson!" a familiar voice called, causing Bolt and the others to stop and turn around. The group saw Richter standing just a few feet away.

"Well, I was wondering if I'd ever have the bad luck of running into you again." Bolt told Richter.

"Bolt, you know this guy?" Lorain asked.

"Just some jerk I met while I was in Viridian City." Bolt answered.

"I see you have a little fan club traveling with you, eh rockstar?" Richter observed.

"What can I say? I'm just that popular." Bolt replied. "So to what do I owe the displeasure, Richter?"

"I've got a bone to pick with you." Richter told him.

"Well if it's a rematch you want, I'm game!" Bolt replied.

"As fun it would be for me to demolish each and every single Pokemon you have, I unfortunately don't have a lot of time right now." Richter informed him. "So let's make this a two-on-two battle and be done with this quick."

"You're on!" Bolt agreed.

"Time to teach you your proper place!" Richter declared as he threw a pokeball. "Go Rhyperior!"

Bursting out of Richter's ball was an enormous creature that looked like a cross between a rhino and a dinosaur. It stood at about seven feet tall and was mostly dark-brown in color. Red stone plates covered its chest and the back of its head like armor. On its nose was a silver drill-like horn, and there was a small silver horn on its forehead. Its tail resembled a club, and it had large forearms with long flat spikes on its elbows. The creature's hands had three thick white fingers with flat tips, and in each palm was a large hole.

"Oh no! A rock and ground-type!" a concerned Lorain observed.

"And a real big one too!" Ross added.

"Let's rock, Chinchou!" Bolt called with his own throw. The little angler Pokemon burst out of his ball to face Rhyperior.

"You're challenging me with that little thing?" Richter asked with a raised eyebrow. "Well… I guess it does have a slight type advantage, which is more than I can saw for the rest of your sorry team. But my Rhyperior is gonna grind your little Chinchou into the ground! Rhyperior, use Rock Blast!"

"Dodge and use Scald!" Bolt commanded.

Just as Rhyperior was about to make a move, Chinchou sprayed the beast in the chest with a blast of water. Steam rose from Rhyperior as he aimed his club-like arms at Chinchou and began to fire a barrage of fairly large rocks from the holes in its palms. Chinchou jumped and weaved around the stony projectiles and somehow managed to avoid getting pelted.

"Wow! That little Chinchou of Bolt's is pretty fast on his feet." An impressed Ross observed.

"You're starting to get on my nerves." Richter told Bolt. "Rhyperior! End this with Rock Wrecker!"

"Dodge it!" Bolt ordered.

Rhyperior brought his hands close together and small pebbles began to shoot out of the holes in his palms and became mashed together, forming into a floating rock that glowed with a red aura. As soon as the rock formed into a small boulder, Rhyperior raised it above his head and threw it at Chinchou. At the last second, Chinchou jumped back and the boulder struck the ground with enough force to make a crater and raise a cloud of dust. When the dust finally settled, Chinchou hopped out from behind the boulder and smirked at Rhyperior with a glint in his eyes. Rhyperior meanwhile looked as though he was out of breath.

"Amazing! Rhyperior hasn't been able to land a single blow." Lorain prasied.

"Yeah, and Pokemon who use Rock Wrecker get worn out for a bit after using it." Ross added. "This Richter guy just gave Bolt a huge opening."

"Okay Chinchou! Use Confuse Ray!" Bolt commanded.

A ball of multicolored light formed between Chinchou's antennas, which the little angler flung at Rhyperior. Rhyperior was struck in the face and staggered backward a bit.

"Use Scald again!" Bolt ordered.

Chinchou blasted Rhyperior in the chest with another stream of steaming hot water. When the attack ended, Richter scowled.

"What was all that stuff you said before about putting me in my place, Richter buddy?" Bolt asked with a cocky smirk.

"Use Drill Run!" Richter ordered.

Rhyperior charged at Chinchou as his drill-like horn suddenly began to spin. Only half way there though, Rhyperior stumbled and fell hard to the ground on his stomach.

"Use Scald one more time!" Bolt commanded.

With Rhyperior still flat on the ground, Chinchou blasted the beast with another stream of steaming water. When the attack ended, Rhyperior was unconscious.

"That was pretty weak, Richter." Bolt taunted as the dark-haired trainer called back Rhyperior. "Maybe you've gotten soft since the last time I saw you."

"How's this for soft? Go Torterra!" Richter called with the throw of his next ball. The giant tortoise burst out of his ball and growled at Chinchou.

"Crud." Bolt cursed.

"Seed Bomb!" Richter commanded.

Torterra opened his jaws and fired a barrage of large white glowing balls. Chinchou was unable to dodge the attack and was quickly knocked out.

"Damn!" Ross cursed. "Just when Bolt was ahead, this jerk turns it all around in a second!"

"Considering that Torterra's a grass and ground-type, there's no way that Chinchou could've won that battle." Lorain pointed out.

"What happened to that cocky attitude of yours, rockstar?" Richter asked as Bolt called back Chinchou. "You may have gotten lucky with that last little victory of yours, but in the end a piece of lower-class trash like you can never overcome someone like me. Like I told you before, someone like you will always be groveling at my feet, wishing for everything I have but never getting it, because it will always be out of reach. That's because someone like me is untouchable to the likes of you."

"We'll see about that! Let's rock, Raikou!" Bolt called with his next throw. Raikou emerged from its ball and roared at Torterra.

"Ah yes, the fabled Raikou. Probably the best Pokemon you've got." Richter admitted. "But even with Raikou you could never hope to take me down! I'll crush it, just like I crushed it in our last battle!"

"Wait! This guy even beat Raikou when they fought in Viridian City?" a stunned Lorain asked.

"Raikou, use Hyper Beam on Torterra!" Bolt commanded.

Raikou opened its mouth and fired a beam of golden light at Torterra. The force of the attack managed to push back Torterra almost a foot, causing the tortoise's thick feet to scrape into the ground. When the attack ended though, Torterra seemed relatively unharmed by the attack.

"That was pitiful." Richter declared. "Torterra, use Fissure!"

Torterra roared and stomped the ground, causing the earth to break open right under Raikou's paws. Raikou fell through the hole dropped down only a few feet before hitting solid ground. Yet while Raikou had only suffered a short fall, the tiger of thunder was out like a light. With the battle at its end, Bolt and Richter called back their respective Pokemon. Afterwards, Richter walked up to Bolt and took hold of his shoulder before leaning in close.

"You stay the hell away from Christine." Richter whispered into Bolt's ear.

Afterwards, Richter pulled away and punched Bolt in the stomach. Bolt fell to his knees upon being hit, causing Lorain to run to his side. Meanwhile Richter calmly began to walk off.

"Hey!" Ross called, causing Richter to look back. Both Ross and Skins were standing right behind him.

"Let me guess. You two want to get back at me for what I did to rockstar boy over there?" Richter deduced.

"I don't know who the hell you are, you son of a bitch! But that was way over the line!" Ross told him. "Winning a Pokemon Battle doesn't give you the right to beat up the guy you took down! If you want a real fight, try taking me on!"

"Me too." Skins dared.

"Please, street fights are beneath me." Richter told them. "I only punched Hanson just now to drive home my point. Now if you'll excuse me, I don't have anymore time to deal with riffraff like you."

"Why you…!" Ross began, but he suddenly stopped when he heard the sound of guns being cocked.

Lorain, Skins and Ross looked around and saw that four men wearing sunglasses and black suits had surrounded them. Each of the men was pointing a gun at them.

"We're done here." Richter told Ross and the others.

Ross and Skins back down and allowed Richter to walk away. As soon as Richter was gone, his four goons put away their guns and left. Soon after, Bolt finally got back to his feet.

"Bolt, are you okay?" Lorain asked.

"Yeah… I'm cool." Bolt assured her. "Just got the wind knocked out of me is all."

"That stuck-up bastard!" Ross cursed. "What the hell's his problem anyway?"

"It seemed like that Richter guy said something to you before he punched you." Lorain recalled. "What was it?"

"Well…" Bolt began. "Let's just say I didn't like the sound of it."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Sorry this chapter ended up being kind of short. Anyway, since the next gym battle is going to be in Saffron City, I think I should take a few moments to explain about the anime that most of you reading may have forgotten or simply may never have realized. During his original trip through Kanto, Ash did not face the gyms in the same order that the player could face them in the Generation 1 games. In the games after beating the Vermillion Gym, the player takes on the Celadon Gym, followed by the Fuchsia Gym and then eventually the Saffron Gym. In the anime though, Ash faced the Saffron Gym practically right after taking on the Vermillion Gym.

Being as familiar with the layout of Kanto as I am, I can see how this little difference made sense geographically. Saffron City is practically the center of Kanto, surrounded on all sides by Cerulean City, Lavender Town, Vermillion City and Celadon City. Plus unlike in the games, Ash and his friends never had to deal with the seemingly corrupt guards at the gates of Saffron that keep the player out of the city for a good chunk of the game. So taking all this into account, I saw no reason why Bolt couldn't face the Kanto Gyms in the same order that Ash faced them in.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	10. Quinton

**Author's Note:** Due to various setbacks, one of which was a loss of internet connection caused by a faulty modem, I was unable to get this chapter done and put up yesterday. Fortunately everything seems to be working perfectly again, so hopefully there will be no more delays for a while.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

><p>Chapter 10: Quinton<p>

Bolt had not been in the most cheerful of moods during the short trip to Saffron City. The whole time he had not been able to get his most recent encounter with Richter out of his head. Bolt kept wondering over about how Richter could possibly know Christine, and he knew of one very possible answer. Having an eye for the ladies, Bolt had in the past approached young women who happened to already have boyfriends, and most of the time these guys had a pretty short fuse about other guys hitting on their girlfriends. A few of these young men had even been as aggressive as Richter, which told Bolt that it was very likely that Christine just happened to be Richter's girlfriend. Yet as obvious as the possibility was, Bolt did not want to admit to himself that it might be true. For some reason he couldn't stand the thought of Christine being with Richter.

It was around noon that day as Bolt exited the Pokemon Center and found the others huddled together out front. He noticed that Lorain and Ross seemed to be debating something.

"What're you guys chatting about?" Bolt asked as he walked up.

"Oh, Bolt. We were just trying to decide on what are plans are for today." Lorain answered. "I know you probably want to head for the gym, but before that I'd like to take a tour of Silph Co."

"And I say the tour would be just one big yawn." Ross insisted. "What's the big deal about this company anyway?"

"Are you kidding? Silph Co is one of the biggest producer of Pokemon related products in the world!" Lorain told him. "They make just about everything from pokeballs to potions! Heck, they've even made the artificial Pokemon, Porygon! I mean that part would be cooler if Porygon was a bug, but still! We have got to check this place out!"

"And I say we just head to the gym, watch Bolt's battle and then just head back to the Pokemon Center for the night before heading out to the next city." The white-haired bass player told her.

"Oh come on! We can not pass this chance up!" Lorain insisted.

"What do you think, Skins?" Bolt asked.

Skins shrugged. "Whatever."

"Well… what the heck. We'll do it Lorain's way and check out Silph Co." Bolt decided.

"Yes!" the bluenette cheered.

"Seriously?" Ross protested. "But Bolt, what about the gym?"

"Ehh, I'm not really in the mood for a gym battle right now." Bolt replied. "We can check out the gym afterward."

"Does this have something to do with what happened with that Richter jerk?" Ross asked.

"…Something like that." Bolt answered. "Let's get going."

Within a few minutes, Lorain had led the rest of the gang to a towering skyscraper in the center of the city that was the headquarters of the Silph Corporation. Upon entering the lobby, Bolt and the others quickly found where the tour group was meeting and joined them. There were not a lot of other people in the tour group. Most of them appeared to just be tourists who were there to check the place out during their stop in Saffron. Within a couple minutes, a woman with long orange hair that split in the back like a V walked up to the group. She had on a black skirt with a white blouse and a blue blazer with the Silph Co logo on it.

"Hello everybody." The woman told the group. "My name's Cassidy, and I'll be conducting your tour today. Please follow me, and do try to stay together."

As the tour began, Bolt and his companions ended up towards the back of the group. Bolt had quickly become lost in thought and had started to walk a little slower than the rest of the group.

"I should start this tour by telling you all about one of the most innovative features of this building." Cassidy began. "If you'll all turn your attention to the floor, you'll fine large tiles here and there in certain spots in the room. These tiles are actually sophisticated teleportation pads that allow our employees to instantly teleport from one room of the building to another, allowing our staff to complete projects much faster. Please watch your step, or you might just end up being zipped to a whole other room. Let's stay together now."

Bolt had not listened to a single word that Cassidy had said. He also was not paying attention when he stepped on one of the large tiles and suddenly found himself surrounded by white light. When the light faded, Bolt found that he was in a completely in a room that looked like a small lab cluttered with pieces of unfinished technology and computer parts. Sitting at a table facing the wall and working on some piece of equipment was a young man about Bolt's age with blonde hair styled in a mullet. He had on a white jacket with the sleeves rolled up with a blue t-shirt and faded jeans.

On the ground behind the blonde's chair was a pink bird-like creature made from geometric shapes, like it was made using ancient computer software. The end of its beak was blue, as was its tail, underside, and the shapes at its side that acted as a pair of wings. Bolt recognized the creature as a Porygon.

"Uh, excuse me." Bolt spoke, getting the blonde's attention.

"Oh, hi there." The blonde replied. "Let me guess, you were taking the tour and accidentally stepped on one of the teleporter pads, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Bolt confirmed as he scratched the back of his head. "Sorry for just barging in on ya like this."

"Don't worry, it happens all the time." The blonde assured him. "The name's Quinton Mercury. And you are?"

"Bolt Hanson." The rocker replied as he shook Quinton's hand. "So where am I, exactly?"

"Just a room in the subbasement that my dad let's me tool around in." Quinton answered.

"Your dad?" Bolt repeated. "So does he like work here or something?"

"You could say that." Quinton confirmed. "My dad's the president and CEO of Silph."

"Seriously?" a surprised Bolt responded. "Wow! That must be kinda cool."

"It has its perks." Quinton admitted. "One of them was my little friend, Porygon here." At this, the artificial Pokemon levitated off the ground and greeted Bolt in the form of digital sounds. "My dad got him for me as a present on my tenth birthday, easy for him to do, since Porygon here is technically a Silph Co. product. Still, a lot of the time being the son of the Silph Co. president is a real drag. My dad eventually wants me to go into the family business."

"Not your thing?" Bolt deduced.

"Don't get me wrong. I like a lot of the science stuff the company does, but I'd much rather be out there traveling the world." Quinton admitted. "Just try my hand at the whole Pokemon Trainer thing, maybe uncover some secrets of the universe. Stuff like that."

"Did you tell him that?" Bolt asked.

"Of course I did. But he's made himself pretty clear." Quinton replied. "Course part of it is because he thinks I can't hack it as a trainer. I was pretty accident prone as a kid, and my dad's a little overprotective. So, here I am, just killing time in this little lab of mine."

"Yeah, that is a drag." Bolt agreed. "So it's just you and Porygon here in this place most of the time?"

"Well, and Chrome." Quinton answered.

"Chrome?" Bolt repeated with a raised eyebrow.

As if on cue, the electric metal door of the room opened, and hovering in was a metallic silver creature with a cylindrical body with a spherical head that had a single red eye. The other end of its body was flat and had three small golden claws. Using the claws, the creature carried a black plastic case that it brought over to Quinton.

"Thank you kindly, Chrome." Quinton told the metallic creature as he took the case. "Let's see… this should be just the right tool kit I need."

Bolt lowered his shades a bit to get a better look at Chrome. "Dude! Is that a shiny Beldum?"

"Sure is. I caught the little guy while my dad and I were vacationing in Hoenn." Quinton answered. "I was outside tinkering with some radio equipment, and whatever I was doing caused Chrome to just float over and look. Caught him with a little help from Porygon, of course."

"Man. In some ways, you really do lead a charmed life." Bolt told him. "So what the heck is it that you do down here?"

"Mostly I just mess around with stuff." Quinton answered as he continued working on the piece of equipment he had on his desk. "Computers. Little gadgets the company made that never got out of the R&D phase. Right now though I'm trying to get the best sound out of this electric piano keyboard I found in the junkyard the other day."

"So you play then?" Bolt asked.

"Music is actually one of my leading interests." Quinton confirmed. "What about you? Is that guitar of yours on your back just for show?"

"No way man." Bolt answered.

"Well then…" Quinton began as he put his keyboard back together. "What say you and I have a little jam session so I can test this baby out?"

Bolt grinned and took hold of his red guitar. "Let's rock!"

* * *

><p>Lorain and the others continued on the tour without even realizing Bolt had vanished. The tour group had only reached the second floor as Cassidy took them into a large lab.<p>

"And this lab is where we test out new products that may allow trainers to lure out certain Pokemon." Cassidy announced as she showed them the lab. "By analyzing the Pokemon move known as Sweet Scent, our scientist hope to one day…"

As Cassidy talked, Ross glanced around and finally noticed that a certain someone was missing. "Hey! Where the hell is Hanson?" Skins looked at him and shrugged. "That jerk! Makes us come on this stupid tour and then he skips out on us? The next time I see him, I'm gonna…"

"Shh!" Lorain gestured with a fierce glare.

"Now then, if you'll all follow me, our next stop will be the lab where we study the brainwaves of certain Pokemon." Cassidy announced as she led the group out.

As they headed down the hallway, walking towards them was a janitor in a grey jumpsuit. He was fairly young looking and had green hair that split in the front. The janitor walked up near Cassidy and began to clean a water fountain, causing Cassidy to pause.

"Everyone's in place." The janitor quietly told Cassidy. "We can start whenever you're ready."

"Good. We'll begin the operation in thirty minutes." Cassidy told him. "Meet me on the sixth floor in lab seven. You better be ready for this, Bill."

"It's Butch! My name's Butch!" the irritated janitor quietly reminded her. "How is it that we've been partners for years and you can never remember my name?"

"Look, whatever! Just get your ass up there!" Cassidy ordered, trying very hard to maintain her calm expression.

"Fine, fine!" Butch replied as he pretended to finish cleaning. "And it's Butch!"

"Uh, Ms. Cassidy?" Lorain spoke, causing her to turn around. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh, not at all. Not at all." Cassidy assured her. "Now then, this way. Try to keep up."

* * *

><p>Bolt and Quinton's little jam session went on for about ten minutes. Afterwards they decided to stop and take a little break.<p>

"Man, I gotta tell ya. You really know how to tickle those ivories." Bolt praised.

"You're pretty good yourself." Quinton told him. "You also seem a little more upbeat since you wandered in here."

"You noticed, huh?" Bolt replied. "Yeah, I've had kind of a rough couple of days, I guess."

"Care to share?" Quinton asked.

Bolt sighed. "Well… there's this girl I met a while ago, and she's like no other girl I've ever met. I mean not only is she beautiful, she's got a kind heart and voice like an angel."

"Sounds like quite the lady." Quinton observed. "So what's your problem?"

"My problem… is that she might already be spoken for." Bolt answered. "This one jerk I first met back in Viridian City came to me the other day and told me to stay the hell away from this girl."

"Ah, possessive boyfriend. I get it." Quinton replied.

"You know what really gets me is that this girl never mentioned she was seeing that piece of trash." Bolt told him.

"Well… maybe he's not actually her boyfriend then." Quinton suggested. "It could be some kind of one-sided thing."

"How do you figure?" Bolt asked.

"Think about it. Maybe this girl and your rival do know each other, but your rival's stuck in the friend zone." Quinton theorized. "Then you come waltzing in to sweep the object of his affection off her feet, so he decides to scare you off. Doesn't mean she's spoken for though."

"You really think so?" Bolt asked hopefully.

"Well I can't be sure, but yeah. I think it's a good possibility." Quinton answered.

"Thanks man. That eases my mind a bit." Bolt told him.

"No problem." Quinton replied. "Now, what's say we try another jam?"

"I'm game." Bolt agreed.

* * *

><p>Cassidy led the tour group into another large lab on the sixth floor. Butch was already in the room pretending to sweep up. Butch nodded at Cassidy, as did three of the scientists in the lab, prompting Cassidy to nod back. At the same time, Lorain glanced around and suddenly noticed that someone in the group was missing.<p>

"Hey! Where's Bolt?" Lorain wondered.

"About damn time you noticed." Ross told her. "Bolt ditched us right when this yawn fest began. I've tried telling ya about fifty times now."

"Well ladies and gentlemen, I'm afraid we've reached the end of our tour." Cassidy announced. "However, I'm afraid all of you are going to be staying with us a while longer." At this, most of the group began to murmur to one another in confusion. "Now!"

Suddenly a large metal door sealed off the lab, trapping everyone inside. The three scientists who had nodded at Cassidy took off their lab coats to reveal Team Rocket uniforms. Butch and Cassidy changed to reveal their own Team Rocket uniforms, though theirs were a little more distinct and included white boots and gloves with red bands near the top.

"What the hell is this?" Ross demanded to know.

"As of now, Silph Co. belongs to Team Rocket." Cassidy told them. "Which means you poor suckers are going to be our hostages for a while. So play nice, or else things will get messy."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> One of my favorite things about doing this AU is combining things from both the anime and the games. And for this chapter I decided to draw from one of the most challenging events of the first generation games, the Team Rocket takeover of Silph Co. That event ended up being the biggest roadblock for me playing the games when I was younger (that and that dang Seafoam Island boulder puzzle). Of course this version of the event has a few differences from the games. The biggest is that instead of Giovanni, the main villains are Butch and Cassidy, the far more competent counterparts of Jessie and James. I got the idea to involve that duo in this story after writing the Mt. Moon chapter. For some reason, those five generic Team Rocket thugs that I used in that chapter made me remember Cassidy and Butch.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	11. The Maze of Silph

**Author's Note:** Happy New Year to all those who are reading this tale. I hope everyone had a better New Years Eve than I did. Mine was not that pleasant. I had car trouble, back trouble and more internet trouble. And that's just to name a few of the problems I had. So for those reasons I was unable to get this chapter up until today.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

><p>Chapter 11: The Maze of Silph<p>

"Why the heck are you guys doing all this?" Lorain demanded to know.

"That's none of your business, little girl." Cassidy told her. "These are grownup matters, and the best thing you can do right now is keep your trap shut like a good little hostage." With that, she turned on her heel and walked towards the teleporter pad in the lab. "C'mon Bosco. We have a president to meet with."

"For the zillionth time, my name is Butch!" Cassidy's green-haired partner complained as he stepped onto the pad with her. In seconds the duo vanished in a flash of light.

"Alright you tourists! Just keep quiet and do as we say, and you won't get hurt!" one of the Team Rocket thugs in the room ordered.

"Crap! This is stupid!" Ross quietly told Lorain and Skins. "Let's just get these guys and get the hell out of here."

"I'm not so sure that's such a good idea." Lorain told him. "If we attack, all these people with us might get caught in the crossfire. And they're already pretty scared as it is."

"So what, we're just supposed to sit on our hands?" Ross asked.

"For now." Lorain answered. "At least until one of us can come up with some kind of plan. I just hope that Bolt's okay, wherever he is."

* * *

><p>When Team Rocket had locked all the doors in the building, they had also locked the subbasement room that Bolt and Quinton were in as well. After a few unsuccessful attempts at opening the door, Quinton had gotten out his laptop to jack into the building's computer system and see what was happening.<p>

"Well, the bad news is that somebody's taken over the building's security system." Quinton informed Bolt. "And how, I have no clue, since our system is supposed to be one of the most secure systems in the world. But the short version of it is that I can't override the lock on the door. Plus even if I could, all the elevators in the building have been shut down."

"Is there any good news?" Bolt asked.

"A little. All the teleport pads in the building are still functional, which means we can get out using the same pad you stepped on to get in here." Quinton answered. "I can also tap into the building's surveillance system, so we might be able to see just who the heck is behind this."

"Then let's take a look." Bolt decided.

With a few keystrokes, the screen on Quinton's laptop showed four smaller windows playing video from various floors. As the windows switched through the feeds, Bolt and Quinton saw Team Rocket members on each floor.

"Damn! It's those Team Rocket losers again." Bolt observed. "But why would they even want to take over this place?"

"Are you kidding? Silph Co. makes tons of products that a criminal organization like Team Rocket would love to get its thieving hands on." Quinton told him. "Stuff that we don't normally release to the public. And probably the biggest of those little forbidden gems is the Master Ball."

"As in the rare pokeball that can catch anything?" Bolt asked. "Even Pokemon that haven't been weakened in a fight? That Master Ball?"

"The very same." Quinton confirmed. "The way my dad tells it, when the development of the Master Ball was finished, my grandpa and all the scientists who worked on the project realized how dangerous it was to make the Master Ball easily available to the general public. For one thing, it could've encouraged reckless Pokemon hunting. Silph still produces the ball of course, but it's strictly regulated. These days a Master Ball can either only be won as a contest prize or given as gifts to very important people like Pokemon Researchers. Otherwise the only way for the average person to get a Master Ball an absurd amount of money, the kind of money usually used to by a villa in the South of Kalos."

"So Team Rocket's after all the Master Balls in the building?" Bolt assumed.

"Oh it's way worse than that, my friend." Quinton told him. "Like I said, the production of the Master Ball is strictly regulated by Silph. In order to produce even one ball, the blueprints need to be loaded into the computer of the machine used to manufacture pokeballs. Those blueprints are on a disc locked in a safe in my dad's office. If Team Rocket was to get those blueprints, they could make all the Master Balls they wanted from the comfort of their own evil hideout."

"Okay, so we need to get to your dad's office to keep Team Rocket from getting those blueprints." Bolt realized.

"And to keep these goons from hurting my dad." Quinton added. "He's not just going to hand the blueprints over willingly, and I'm sure these guys aren't squeamish about using force to get what they want."

"Plus to top it all off, we also gotta save my friends and every other person in this building." Bolt concluded. "Talk about problems. So what do you think we should do, good buddy?"

"We can use the teleport pads all over the building to get to my dad's office." Quinton informed him. "I know where just about each one goes. Of course it'll probably be a long trip, especially since some of the pads will be cut off from us because of the doors. But we might run into your friends along the way."

"Well that's something, I guess." Bolt replied.

"There is one more little wrinkle though." Quinton told him. "We're probably going to run into a lot of these Team Rocket goons along the way, so we may have to fight all the way there. In fact the moment we step off the first pad, we've got three goons that'll probably attack us right away."

"Hey, I can handle myself." Bolt assured him. "How 'bout you?"

"I'm not too bad when it comes to Pokemon battles." Quinton answered. "Four nights out of the week I go to a place to train secretly with Porygon and Chrome."

"Well then, I guess there's nothing to do now but go in there with guns blazing." Bolt decided.

"Then let's hit the road." Quinton replied.

With that, Quinton called his two Pokemon back to their balls and he and Bolt stepped on the teleport pad. Seconds later when the materialized in the lobby, they were immediately spotted by three Team Rocket agents.

"What the hell? I thought all the hostages were locked up!" one of the agents exclaimed.

"We can ask questions after we take care of these two punks!" another agent told them before throwing a pokeball. "Go Koffing!"

Floating out of the thrown ball was a purple spherical creature with bumps all over its body. On the front of the creature was a face over a kind of skull and crossbones. The other two Rocket agents each threw a pokeball as well, sending out their own Koffing.

"You guys are making this way too easy." Bolt smirked. "Let's rock, Magnezone!" The magnetic Pokemon burst out of its ball to face the Koffing trio.

"Go Porygon!" Quinton called with his own throw. The artificial Pokemon burst out of the ball and floated up next to Magnezone. "Use Psybeam!"

Porygon glared at the center Koffing and fired beams of multicolored light from its eyes. The lead Koffing was hit in the face and dropped to the ground.

"Thunderbolt!" Bolt commanded.

Magnezone let loose bolts of yellow electricity that shocked the remaining two Koffing and the Rocket agents. When the attack ended, both the remaining Koffing and the agents were out cold on the ground.

"That was easier than I thought it'd be." Quinton observed.

"Yeah, most of these Team Rocket losers are pushovers." Bolt replied.

"You've faced these guys before?" a somewhat surprised Quinton asked.

"A couple of times." Bolt answered. "So far, the only members of this stupid gang who've been a big threat are the boss man, Giovanni and this one masked gal I met while I was in Johto a little while back. Man, you want to avoid that lady if you can help it."

"Then let's hope neither of those two are here and get going." Quinton replied.

After the two called back their respective Pokemon, Quinton quickly led Bolt to the next teleport pad they needed to get to on that floor. The pad took them to a small room that was five floors up from where they were. When they exited into the hall, they were someone relieved to find that there were no Team Rocket agents waiting for them.

"So the next pad is gonna take us up another five floors, right?" Bolt whispered.

"No, it'll take us two floors down to a corridor outside one of the meeting rooms." Quinton whispered back. "The pads we have access to aren't going to give us a direct route to my dad's office. We're gonna end up bouncing around the whole building before this thing's over."

"Groovy." Bolt sarcastically replied.

As Bolt and Quinton turned a corner, they bumped into a man wearing a while lab coat. He was scrawny and had olive-green hair, and brown eyes behind a thick pair of round glasses. Bolt instantly tensed up and the man let out a startled cry.

"Whoa! Easy Bolt." Quinton told him. "This guy's just one of the scientists who works here."

"Uh, oh! Young Mr. Mercury." The scientist responded as he adjusted his glasses. "I wasn't expecting to see you out here."

"Same here, Dr. uh…" Quinton replied.

"Oh, I'm Dr. Kirkland. I work in the pharmacology department." The scientist informed him. "I don't blame you for not knowing who I am. I'm just a lowly employee."

"How come you aren't locked up?" Bolt asked.

"Well I was, but those brutes from Team Rocket chose to leave me alone." Kirkland explained. "It didn't occur to them that I had a card key that allowed me to override the lock on the door."

"Hey, how come you don't have one of those card keys?" Bolt asked Quinton.

"Yeah, well I do but I forgot to bring it with me today." Quinton admitted. "Half the time I don't even use the thing. Plus its access is somewhat limited. I may be the president's son, but there are places where even I'm not really authorized to be."

"I certainly hope that the president is okay." Kirkland spoke.

"Bolt and I are trying to get to his office right now." Quinton told him. "But it's gonna take us awhile since some of the teleport pads are locked off."

"They won't be if we use my card key." Kirkland offered. "My access is pretty high. My key should let the three of us get to the pads that will give us a direct route to President Mercury's office."

"The sooner we can get to my dad's office, the better." Quinton decided. "Lead the way, doc."

Kirkland led Bolt and Quinton down another corridor and took them to a fairly small room at the end of the hallway. The room was practically empty, with nothing but shelves holding binders and computer parts lining the walls.

"Hey! There's no teleport pad in here." Quinton suddenly realized.

"No, put this room is the perfect place to dispose of two little rodents like you!" Kirkland told them as he shut the door.

"Damn! I had a feeling something was off." Bolt told Quinton. "This was going too easy."

"Doc! Are you working for Team Rocket?" Quinton asked.

Kirkland chuckled. "Of course I do, you privileged simpleton. Didn't you even wonder for a second about how Team Rocket was able to gain control of this building? Almost half the employees here helped them do it! For years Team Rocket had been recruiting dissatisfied staff members like me as part of an ultimate plan they call Operation Master Grab."

"But why are you working for them?" Quinton asked.

"Because my work here at Silph has always been marginalized!" Kirkland told him. "Every year my project proposals are shot down. Recently your father, the great Quinton Mercury Jr. has even considered me transferring me to a branch out in the coldest part of Unova. But to Team Rocket, my work is actually of value! That's why I and many other of my fellow employees have changed sides."

"So what're you gonna do with us, dude?" Bolt asked.

"Well at first I was just going to lock you in this room." Kirkland told them. "But after our little talk, I can't leave without first teach the little crown prince of Silph, Quinton Mercury the Third a little lesson!" He pulled a pokeball from his lab coat pocket. "Go Muk!"

Emerging from Kirkland's thrown ball was a large blob of purple sludge. The sludge moved and formed a pair of eyes and a large dripping mouth, along with a large pair of dripping hands.

"Take it easy, Quinton. I'll handle this loser." Bolt told him as he pulled out a pokeball.

"No Bolt. This is my battle." Quinton decided as he stepped up. "Kirkland betrayed my family's company, so it's only right that I be the one to take him down. Besides… no one calls me Quinton Mercury the Third! Do you know how stuffy that sounds?"

"Then feel free to teach me a lesson, if you can." Kirkland dared.

"Go Porygon!" Quinton called with the throw of his own ball. The artificial Pokemon flew out to face Muk. "Use Psybeam!"

Porygon glared at Muk and fired beams of light from its eyes. Muk was struck in the face, which rippled upon being hit and took a moment to reform.

"Ah, Porygon. One of the greatest products the company ever made next to the Master Ball." Kirkland mused. "Too bad for you that my Muk is far stronger! Muk, use Sludge Bomb!"

Muk opened its mouth and spewed out a large ball of purple gunk. Porygon was hit in the face by the projectile and wobbled around in the air a bit. Suddenly the digital Pokemon's face turned slightly purple.

"Oh dear. It looks like Muk's Sludge Bomb attack managed to poison Porygon." Kirkland smirked. "It's as good as finished."

"Not yet! Use Psybeam one more time!" Quinton commanded. Porygon got it together and fired two more beams that hit Muk in the face. "Now use Thunderbolt!"

Porygon's body gave of a bolt of yellow electricity that shocked Muk. When the attack ended, Muk collapsed into a pile of sludge and was out cold.

"Well, you managed to do better than I expected." Kirkland observed as he called back Muk. "But my final Pokemon is sure to finish you off. Go Toxicroak!"

Bursting out of Kirkland's second pokeball was a dark-blue frog-like creature with a somewhat humanoid build, standing at over four feet tall. It had bight yellow eyes and a noticeable red upper lip. A large spike jutted out from the creature's forehead, and under its chin was a large red sack. The middle finger on both the creature's three-fingered hands was a long red stinger. It had muscular legs, and the middle toe on both its three toed feet were red.

"Venoshock!" Kirkland commanded.

After making a croaking sound, Toxicroak opened its mouth and spewed out a large green blob of gunk. Porygon was struck in the face and its body crackled with purple electricity. After a moment, Porygon dropped to the ground like a stone and was out cold.

"Looks like you're all but finished." Kirkland boasted as Quinton called back Porygon. "I know you have at least one more Pokemon left, but there's no way that your little Beldum can defeat my Toxicroak!"

"We'll see about that! Go Chrome!" Quinton called with his next throw. The metallic Pokemon flew out of its ball. "Use Take Down!"

Chrome flew at Toxicroak like a missile and rammed into the poison frog's chest. The attack caused Taxicroak to stumble back a step.

"Your Beldum may have type advantage in this battle, but with Take Down being the only move it knows it can't get very far." Kirkland smugly declared. "Toxicroak, use Low Kick!"

After recovering from Chrome's attack Toxicroak charged in and kicked the metal Pokemon from below. The attack sent Chrome flipping towards the ceiling like a football. Chrome managed to stop itself from crashing and floated back down to the battlefield.

"As a simple researcher, I know I'm not the most skilled when it comes to Pokemon Battles." Kirkland admitted. "But I know that I'm strong enough to defeat someone like you, Mr. Mercury. You may have some unique Pokemon, but since your father didn't allow you to go on a training journey, you're as inexperienced as a six-year-old! This battle is as good as mine!"

Suddenly Chrome's body began to glow with a brilliant white light. Bolt and the others watched as the glowing Pokemon divided like a single celled organism. The two Pokemon flipped around in the air and their heads extended to reveal long necks. Their heads then merged together into a single object and the light from their now shared body faded. Chrome had become a silver creature with a saucer-shaped body with two red eyes and a golden spike on the front like a nose. Its two original bodies had become a pair of arms that hung underneath, and the claws on each arm had become slightly larger.

"Awesome! Chrome just evolved into a Metang!" Bolt praised.

"So that's how Beldum and Metang evolve when not in the wild." A fascinated Quinton observed. "They go through a kind of mitosis. I've always wondered about that."

"What? No! How is this possible?" a shocked Kirkland asked.

"I may not have gone on a training journey, but my Pokemon and I have trained." Quinton told him. "Chrome, use Confusion!"

Chrome's eyes glowed and suddenly Toxicroak began to glow with a feint blue aura. An invisible force then flung Toxicroak hard into the wall behind Kirkland.

"Finish it with Metal Claw!" Quinton commanded.

Chrome flew at Toxicroak at its claws began to glow with a white light. The metal Pokemon slashed Toxicroak twice in the chest, causing the fighting frog to fall to the ground on its face.

"Damn you!" Kirkland cursed.

"Okay Quinton, I got it from here." Bolt told him as he pulled out a pokeball. "Let's rock, Raikou!"

The tiger of thunder burst from its ball and roared at Kirkland. All the color drained from the traitorous scientist's face upon seeing the beast.

"Sorry to do this dude, but I'm gonna have to ask for that card key you got." Bolt told Kirkland. "Otherwise I may have to get rough on ya."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Originally, the Silph Co. incident was only going to be two chapters long. But after I had wrapped up the previous chapter, I realized that just two chapters weren't going to be enough. So Silph is going to be under siege for just one chapter longer.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	12. Operation Master Grab

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

><p>Chapter 12: Operation Master Grab<p>

It had been several minutes since the tour group that Lorain and the others had joined had been taken hostage. During that whole time, Ross was on the verge of chewing the furniture. He wanted nothing more than to beat the three Team Rocket goons holding them captive to a pulp, but Lorain was insistent that they needed to stay calm and wait. Ross was not the only one in the room who was agitated though. For the last few minutes one of the other members of the tour group, a six-year-old girl with sky-blue hair had been crying her eyes out for the last few minutes. Her mother had been trying to comfort her with no success, and it was driving one of the Rocket goons guarding the room nuts.

"Hey! Will you shut that brat up already?" the Rocket agent impatiently ordered the mother.

"Why don't you just let us go?" the mother told him.

"Dammit, I said shut her up!" the thug ordered as he walked towards them.

At this point, Ross stood up and blocked his path. "Just lay off!"

"What, you want a piece of me, punk?" the thug asked. In response, Ross punched him in the jaw and knocked him to the ground.

"Ross!" Lorain called out.

"That felt pretty good." Ross smirked. "I've been wantin' to do that all morning."

"You damn little…" the agent grumbled as he got to his feet and wiped his mouth. "I'm gonna make you regret that you were ever born!" He pulled out a pokeball and threw it. "Go Koffing!" The floating purple gas ball emerged from the ball.

"Go Poliwrath!" Ross called with his own throw. The polliwog Pokemon burst out to face Koffing.

"Wha… what the…?" the thug exclaimed. "A trainer?"

"Ice Punch!" Ross commanded.

Poliwrath jumped up and stuck Koffing in the face with a fist covered in a frozen mist. Koffing became covered in ice upon being punched and fell to the ground like a stone.

"Okay. Who else wants some?" Ross dared.

"Dammit! I'll handle this!" the second of the thugs declared as he pulled out his own pokeball. "Go Drowzee!"

Bursting out of the second agent's ball was a taper-like creature that stood on two legs. The top half of its body was colored yellow, while the bottom half was brown.

"Go Tyrunt!" Skins called as he stood and threw his own ball. The little T-Rex Pokemon burst out of the ball. "Use Crunch!"

Tyrunt charged at Drowzee and opened his massive jaws. When he came in range he bit down hard on Drowzee's left arm, causing the taper Pokemon to cry out. After a few moments Tyrunt finally let go of Drowzee's arm. Drowzee staggered backward and fell onto its back unconscious.

"A critical hit! Nice one, Skins!" Ross praised. "Looks like these guys are nothing but a bunch of wimps."

"Looks like it's up to me!" the remaining of the three thugs observed. "Go Weepinbell!"

Emerging from the thug's ball was a large yellow plant-like creature in the shape of a bell. It had two round eyes, and on the sides of its body were two large green leafs that looked similar to wings. On the top of its body was a short brown vine that looked like the remains of a stem.

"Go Paras!" Lorain called with her own throw. The red mushroom insect emerged from its ball. "Use X-Scissor!"

"Attack with Acid!" the thug ordered.

Weepinbell fired a shot of purple liquid that struck Paras in the face. The liquid gave off a hissing sound as it burned the insect. Paras recovered after a moment and jumped into the air. As it came down towards Weepinbell, Paras' arms began to glow red. What Paras came in range, it slashed Weepinbell in the face and left a red X-shaped mark.

"Use Sleep Powder!" Lorain commanded.

Paras landed on the ground and glowing blue spores flew from the mushrooms on its back. The spores struck Weepinbell as well as the three Team Rocket agents. In seconds all those hit with the spores fell to the ground and were sound asleep. Lorain breathed a sigh of relief.

"Dammit kid! Why didn't you do that sooner?" Ross asked her.

"I was trying to figure out a way to do that discreetly!" Lorain argued. "But then you had to go and punch one of those guys out!"

"What, so I was just supposed to sit on my hands while he roughed up a little kid and her mom?" Ross pointed out. "How the hell could I have looked myself in the mirror again if I had done that?"

Before the argument could get too far, the metal door to the room suddenly opened up. Bolt and Quinton walked into the lab.

"Hey guys." Bolt greeted. "You all okay?"

"Where the hell have you been?" Ross demanded to know. "And who's this guy?"

"Long story, man." Bolt told him. "For now, let's just stay I didn't do a good job of watching my step."

"How'd you even get in here?" Lorain asked.

"With this little card key." Quinton answered, holding up the key. "Bolt and I got it off this employee turned traitor. He's locked in a broom closet right now."

"Hey Quinton, do we need that key to get into your dad's office?" Bolt asked.

"Nope. All we need to do is step on the teleport pad in this room and we'll be in the hallway right outside his door." Quinton answered.

"Then give Ross the key." Bolt requested. "Ross, you and the others go through the building and get the other hostages out. You might want to let the cops know what's going on here too."

"And why am I taking orders from you?" Ross asked as Quinton handed him the key.

"Because you know I'm right." Bolt answered. "Plus you still think you owe me for the whole Nugget Tournament thing."

"…Fine." Ross finally agreed.

"Let's get goin', Quinton." Bolt told him as he headed for the pad.

"Right behind ya." Quinton replied. In moments the two of them stepped on the pad and vanished.

* * *

><p>Cassidy stood with her arms crossed, looking out the large window of the president's office overlooking the city. Behind her, Butch was leaning against the corner of the polished wooden desk in the office. Tied in the chair that went with the desk was President Mercury, a man with pale blonde hair and wearing glasses and a purple suit and a red tie. Cassidy and Butch's irate Raticate was at President Mercury's feet, growling at him.<p>

"I'm just about out of patience, Mr. President." Cassidy told him, not once turning away from the window. "For the eighteenth time, open the safe for us and give us the disc. Otherwise this time I'll be forced to have my dear Raticate make you a little more cooperative."

"And for the eighteenth time I'm going to say no." President Mercury told her. "You can do whatever you want to me, but I'll never allow you to have the plans for the Master Ball."

"C'mon pops! Be reasonable!" Butch told him. "We really don't want to do this the hard way, but we will if you make us."

"This operation of ours has been years in the making." Cassidy told the president. "We've come too far to come away from it with nothing. So I'm going to ask you just one more time. Give us the disc."

"No matter how many times you order me to, I will not hand that disc over to you." President Mercury told her.

"Well, I tried." Cassidy sighed. "Raticate…"

Before Cassidy could finish her command, the sound of an electric guitar riff sounded from the door. Soon after, Magnezone flew in and shocked Raticate with a bolt of yellow electricity. The large rodent fell onto its back and was out cold.

"Sounds like you guys need to learn the meaning of the word, no." Bolt told the duo as he entered the office with Quinton.

"Who the hell are you?" Butch demanded to know.

"Me? I'm the badass rocker of Sinnoh, Bolt Hanson." The rocker proudly answered.

"Dad, are you okay?" Quinton asked.

"Quinton! What on earth are you doing here?" President Mercury responded. "You need to get out! It's too dangerous!"

"I'd listen to your dad, kid." Butch told him. "We're not playing around here."

"Well neither am I!" Quinton declared.

"You know, you guys seem kinda different than the other Team Rocket losers I've had to deal with." Bolt noted. "Who the heck are you guys?"

Cassidy smirked and took a dramatic pose. "You'd better prepare for trouble."

"And you'd better make it double!" Butch added as he took his own pose.

"To infect the world with devastation!" Cassidy spoke.

"To blight all people in every nation!" Butch added.

"To denounce the…" Cassidy began.

"Magnezone, Thunderbolt!" Bolt commanded, cutting her off. The magnetic Pokemon shot of bolt of yellow lightning at Butch's feet.

"What the hell was that for?" Butch demanded to know.

"What the hell were you guys even doing?" Bolt responded. "I was just wanted to know your freakin' names, and you give me this weird song and dance?"

"Forget it, Bolt! These guys don't have names worth remembering." Quinton declared.

"Yeah, you're right." Bolt agreed. "Besides their boss and that masked gal I met in Johto, one Team Rocket jerk's the same as the other."

"How dare you!" an offended Cassidy protested. "My partner and I happen to be high-ranking officers in Team Rocket!"

"Cassidy! Let's teach these brats a lesson!" Butch told her.

"Great idea!" Cassidy agreed as she pulled out a pokeball. "Go Houndour!"

Bursting out of Cassidy's pokeball was a black dog with a red snout and underside. Atop its head was a white crest that resembled a skull. On the dog's back were two white strips that looked almost like rib bones, and around its ankles were thick white bands.

"Go Chrome!" Quinton called, throwing his own pokeball. The saucer Pokemon flew up to hover next to Magnezone.

"Chrome?" a rather surprised President Mercury repeated.

"Go Mightyena!" Butch called as he threw his own ball.

Emerging from Butch's ball was another large dog with black and grey fur. The beast was slightly larger than Houndour and had red eyes.

"I'll handle the president's kid! You take care of rocker boy!" Butch told his partner.

"Fine!" Cassidy agreed before turning her attention to Bolt and Magnezone. "Houndour, use Flamethrower!"

"Dodge and use Thunderbolt!" Bolt ordered.

Houndour opened its jaws and breathed out a stream of flames at Magnezone. The mechanical Pokemon flew to the side and avoided the blast before shooting an electrical bolt down at Houndour. The dog Pokemon was struck but managed to stay standing.

"Chrome, use Metal Claw on Mightyena!" Quinton commanded.

"Use Shadow Ball!" Butch ordered.

Chrome flew towards Mightyena as its golden claws began to glow white. Mightyena opened its mouth and fired a ball of crackling black energy at Chrome. The silver Pokemon managed to withstand the attack and slashed Mightyena in the face twice.

"Mightyena, use Crunch!" Butch commanded.

Before Chrome could fly out of range, Mightyena clamped onto the metal Pokemon's left arm with its jaws. Mightyena shook Chrome and threw him across the office into the wall. After a moment, Chrome flew back up into the air.

"Hey Quinton! What say we switch things up a bit?" Bolt suggested.

"Fine by me." Quinton agreed.

"Magnezone, use Magnet Bomb on Mightyena!" Bolt commanded.

"Chrome! Hit Houndour with Take Down!" Quinton ordered.

Magnezone crackled with blue electricity and fired a ball of blue energy at Mightyena, striking the dog in the back. At the same time, Chrome tucked his arms back and flew at Houndour like a rocket and rammed into its side. The fire-breathing hound was hurled into a bookcase that stood against the office wall.

"Let's end this!" Bolt decided. "Magnezone, finish Houndour with Electro Ball!"

"Chrome, take down Mightyena with one more Metal Claw!" Quinton ordered.

Magnezone turned around and fired a ball of yellow electricity from its left magnet. Houndour was struck by the attack just as it had gotten back to its feet and collapsed. At the same time, Chrome zoomed in and slashed Mightyena in the side with its glowing claws, causing the beast to fall on its side. Seeing that there was no longer any fight in the two dog Pokemon, Cassidy and Butch called them back.

"You may have won this round, but we're just getting started!" Cassidy declared.

"Okay. If you wanna keep playing, I'm game." Bolt agreed as he called back Magnezone. "But I think I'm gonna go ahead and change things up. Let's rock, Raikou!" The tiger of thunder burst out of Bolt's ball and roared at Butch and Cassidy.

"What the… how the hell does this kid have a Raikou?" a shocked Butch asked.

"Dammit! We weren't prepared for anything like this!" Cassidy spoke.

Butch gritted his teeth and threw another pokeball. "Go Abra!"

Emerging from Butch's ball was a small bipedal creature with a head resembling that of a fox. Its eyes were closed and it sat on the ground with its legs crossed. Much of its skin was colored a brownish yellow, with the skin of its upper torso colored completely brown and resembling armor.

"Where did you get that Pokemon?" Cassidy asked.

"I traded my Primeape for it back at HQ." Butch answered. "Now we gotta get outta here! Operation Master Grab is a bust!"

"But…" Cassidy began.

"Abra! Get us out of here with Teleport!" Butch ordered. "Raticate too!"

Abra's eyes opened slightly and its body glowed with a feint blue aura. Seconds later, Cassidy, Butch and their two Pokemon vanished with a flash of white light. With the Team Rocket duo gone, Quinton went over and untied his father.

"You okay dad?" Quinton asked.

"I'm fine." President Mercury assured him as he stood up. "You handled yourself very well in that battle."

"Your son's a pretty good trainer, Mr. Mercury." Bolt informed him. "Probably one of the best I've met."

"Is that so?" President Mercury replied. Just then, the intercom buzzer on his desk buzzed, prompting him to answer. "Yes?"

_"Mr. Mercury, this Officer Jenny."_ The voice on the intercom replied. _"My people have moved in and have started taking the Team Rocket members that have taken over the building into custody. So far none of your workers seem to be hurt."_

"Dad, some of the employees are actually working for Team Rocket." Quinton told him. "That's how these guys were able to take over the building."

_"We're going to be questioning everyone taking hostage to get a good picture of what happened."_ Officer Jenny told President Mercury. _"If there are more turncoats here, we'll find them."_

"Thank you, Officer Jenny. Keep me informed." President Mercury replied before shutting off the intercom and turning back to Quinton. "You've done me and the company proud today, son."

"Thanks dad." Quinton told him.

"Quinton… I know that taking this company over from me isn't what you want." President Mercury began. "And after seeing how you handled yourself against those two from Team Rocket, I've decided to let you go on a training journey."

"Dad, are you sure?" Quinton asked. "I mean… who'll take over for you when the time comes?"

"Your younger sister has expressed interest in running the company when she's older." President Mercury answered. "You just follow your own dream, son. I know you'll do great."

"Thanks dad." Quinton replied before turning to Bolt. "Hey Bolt, would you mind if I tag along with you and your little gang?"

"No problem, dude." Bolt agreed. "The more, the merrier."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Thus ends the epic Silph Co. chapters. I hope everyone enjoyed reading them. In the next installment, Bolt will be facing one of my favorite Pokemon gym leaders of all time. So stay tuned.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	13. The Psychic Empress

**Author's Note:** Ordinarily I don't update stories on a Saturday. Saturdays are usually just my day to unwind and think. But I was just too excited about this next chapter to wait until Sunday to do it. So here's a special Saturday installment of Thunder in Kanto.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

><p>Chapter 13: The Psychic Empress<p>

It had taken a while for things to calm down after Team Rocket's thwarted plans to steal the blueprints for the Master Ball from Silph Co. The authorities had questioned bolt and his little band of friends for hours to try and get an exact picture of what had happened, and the whole incident had quickly captured the attention of the media. By the time the dust finally began to settle, Bolt had decided that it was too late for him to make a trip to the Saffron City Gym. That following morning, Bolt exited the Pokemon Center with Lorain, Ross and Skins, where they found Quinton waiting for them outside. After greetings were exchanged, Quinton began to lead the way to the gym.

"So Quinton, do you know what kind of Pokemon the gym of this city uses?" Bolt asked.

"The word is that the gym in this city specializes in Psychic Pokemon." Quinton answered. "I gotta tell ya though, good buddy. There are a few unsavory rumors about the leader of this gym."

"What kind of rumors?" Lorain asked.

"Well for one thing the leader of this gym is said to be practically unbeatable." Quinton answered. "But even more unsettling is that a few of the trainers who'd take this gym on would just vanish off the face of the earth. Of course that rumor could just be an urban legend or something. I wouldn't put too much stock in it."

Within a few minutes the gang came upon an old and somewhat rundown old building with black walls and a red roof surrounded by a grey wall made of stone bricks. Ross noticed an old faded sign reading _Saffron City Gym_ attached to the wall by the entrance.

"Looks like we found the gym." Ross told the others as he looked at the building.

"Well you're right about that, but the place you're looking at isn't the gym." Quinton informed Ross. "The gym is right across the street."

Ross turned his attention away from the black building and looked across the street to where Bolt and the others were looking. Right across from them was a large white dome-like structure.

"You're totally sure that place is the gym?" Ross asked with a quirked brow.

"Positive." Quinton answered.

"Okay rich boy, then if that place is the gym, than what's this building we're standing in front of?" Ross asked. "There's a sign here that says that this place is the gym."

Quinton turned and looked at the faded sign Ross indicated. "Huh… that is kinda weird. But I know for a fact that the place we want is right across the street."

"He's right, Ross. The guidebook I have on Saffron says that white building's the gym." Lorain informed him. "It even has a picture of it."

"Well then why the hell does this place have a sign that says it's the gym?" a somewhat irritated Ross asked.

"I dunno. Maybe they moved?" Quinton suggested.

"Dude, why're you making such a big deal about this?" Bolt asked.

"I don't know. It just seems kinda weird to me." Ross told them. "Look, you guys can go ahead across the street. I'm gonna check this place out for a bit."

"What about Bolt's battle?" Lorain asked.

"I won't be very long." Ross replied. "Besides, if it turns out both Quinton and that guidebook are wrong, you'll be coming back here pretty soon. Later." With that, Ross walked through the front gate of the black building.

"You know… Ross can be a real jerk sometimes." Lorain declared.

"Don't sweat it, little lady. I'm sure Ross won't be long." Bolt assumed. "That place is probably abandoned anyway. Now let's hit that gym."

With that, Bolt and the remaining members of the gang went across the street and entered the white building. Inside they found large arching hallways with orange walls and high ceilings. As they walked through the massive corridors, they came upon a blue door with a window. Letting their curiosity get the better of them, Bolt, Quinton and Skins looked inside. Lorain would've looked as well if she had been tall enough to see through the window. Inside, the three guys saw people in white lab coats sitting at tables. Some of them were looking at spoons while others seemed to be playing some kind of card game.

"What's going on in there?" Lorain asked.

"Dunno." Bolt answered.

"I think I have an idea what they might be doing." Quinton replied. "I could be way off here, but I think these people are trying to see if they have psychic power."

"That is exactly what they are doing." A voice spoke. Bolt and the others turned to see a man with long brown hair tied in a ponytail wearing a white lab coat and a surgical mask. "One of the things we do here at this gym is to hone the innate psychic abilities we possess."

"You people sure seem to take this psychic stuff seriously." Quinton observed. "Any of you have any success with these powers of yours?"

"See for yourself." The masked man replied as he reached into the pocket of his lab coat and pulled out a spoon.

Holding the spoon before Bolt and the others, the masked man starred at it and began to grunt like he was trying to lift a very heavy object. As moments passed, sweat began to form on his brow and his face started to turn red.

"Dude, don't hurt yourself on our account." Bolt told him.

The masked man ignored him, and suddenly an unseen force bent the spoon in his hand. He then dropped his arm and wiped the sweat from his brow with his other hand.

"Cool." Skins declared.

"There's gotta be a trick to it." Lorain assumed.

"Can you do that again?" Bolt asked.

"Not for a while." The masked man admitted. "But that should be an effective demonstration of the kind of psychic power those of us at this gym possess. I should also tell you that our gym leader has far more power than I do."

"Yeah, about that. I came here to challenge the gym leader." Bolt informed him. "So do you mind taking us to whoever that is?"

"Not at all." The masked man replied. "But I should warn you that you may regret challenging her. Very few trainers who have challenged this gym have left here without being utterly crushed."

"I'll take my chances." Bolt smirked. "Now take us to her."

* * *

><p>Ross had entered the black building and found it to be some kind of dojo. While the outside seemed to have fallen into a state of disrepair, the inside looked as though it was used on a regular basis. As Ross looked around one of the training rooms, he heard the sound of creaking floorboards and turned around. Walking into the room was a man with black hair tied in a ponytail and a beard. He had on a sleeveless black karate outfit with a golden belt.<p>

"Who are you?" the man asked him.

"Hey. Just came in here to look around." Ross told him.

"We are closed at the moment." The man told him. "Now I ask you again, who are you?"

"The name's Ross Jones." The white-haired answered. "Mind giving me your name?"

"I am Ryuji Tanaka, the current master of this dojo." The man answered. "Why have you come here?"

"Well, my friends and I came around here looking for the gym." Ross explained. "Word is that the place across the street is supposed to be the Saffron Gym, but you've got a sign out front saying that this place is the gym. So I decided to come in here and figure out which is which."

"I see…" Ryuji replied. "Then does this mean you have come to challenge the gym's leader and earn a badge?"

"Well that's what the guy I'm traveling with wants." Ross answered. "Though I guess I wouldn't mind taking on a gym leader myself."

"Well then, as master of this dojo, I guess I would be considered the gym leader here." Ryuji replied as he suddenly pulled out a pokeball. "So allow me to give you the challenge you seek! Go forth, Hitmonlee!"

Bursting out of Ryuji's thrown ball was a strange almost humanoid creature that was mainly purplish brown in color. It seemingly did not have a head, and eyes could be seen towards the top of its torso through what might be considered eyeholes cut into fabric. Its slender arms and legs were ridged and light brown in color, and its feet were large and had three clawed toes.

"Okay then." Ross smirked as he pulled out his own pokeball. "Go Machamp!" The muscular four-armed fighter burst out of the ball to face Hitmonlee.

"Hitmonlee! Attack with Blaze Kick!" Ryuji commanded.

"Vital Throw!" Ross ordered.

Hitmonlee jumped into the air, his slender legs stretching like rubber as he did so. As the kickboxing Pokemon came down towards Machamp, his right foot became covered in red flames. Machamp was struck in the chest and the impact from the kick forced him back slightly. But at the same, Machamp grabbed onto Hitmonlee's leg. The muscular Pokemon spun around and hurled into the wall.

"Use Bulk-Up followed by Thunder Punch!" Ross commanded.

Machamp flexed his muscles and veins bulged as he began to glow with a red aura. Just as Hitmonlee was getting back up, Machamp charged over and hit him in the chest with a fist covered in yellow electricity.

"Thunder Punch one more time!" Ross commanded.

Machamp struck Hitmonlee with another electrified punch, knocking the kickboxing Pokemon back slightly. After a moment, Hitmonlee fell to his knees and hit the floor on his face. With the battle at an end, Ross and Ryuji called back their respective Pokemon.

"Impressive." Ryuji praised. "You are indeed quite the skilled trainer, one who would be worthy of a position at this dojo."

"Thanks." Ross replied. "So do I get a badge?"

At this, Ryuji chuckled darkly. "A few years ago, you would have. But I'm afraid this dojo is no longer the Saffron City Gym."

"What do you mean?" Ross asked.

"This dojo was once the official Indigo League Gym of Saffron City, but that title was stolen from us along with our honor." Ryuji revealed. "Why don't you come with me, and I'll tell you of the day when that witch Sabrina took what rightfully belonged to us."

* * *

><p>The masked man led Bolt and the others down the halls of the Saffron Gym to an arena that almost looked like some kind of temple. The gang hung back as the masked man stepped before a large shade that seemed to hide some kind of throne room.<p>

"Mistress Sabrina. Another trainer has come to challenge you to battle." The masked man reported.

"I see." A female voice spoke from behind the shade.

A light came on behind the shade as it rose, revealing a fairly young woman with long pine-green hair sitting on a throne. She had on a red jacket that buttoned on the left side along with a short black skirt and black knee-high leather high-heeled boots. A rather cold expression was on the young woman's face.

"She seems kinda… mean-looking." Lorain whispered to the others.

"Yeah. Kinda cute though." Bolt remarked.

"Oh yeah. Total babe." Quinton agreed.

"Totally." Skins concurred.

"I'm starting to hate men." Lorain declared.

The green-haired woman rose from her throne. "I am Sabrina, leader of this gym. Which of you has come to challenge me?"

"That'd be me." Bolt answered as he stepped forward. "I'm the badass rocker of Sinnoh, Bolt Hanson."

"You are from Sinnoh?" Sabrina asked. "Am I to assume that you also competed in the Sinnoh League then?"

"Yep. I did pretty okay there." Bolt confirmed.

"I see." Sabrina replied. "Then perhaps I will not have to hold myself back too much in this battle."

With that, the masked man stepped aside and took the position of referee on the battlefield. Soon after, Sabrina suddenly rose into the air and floated down onto the battlefield to face Bolt. Bolt and his companions were quite surprised to say the least.

"Did… did she just fly?" Lorain asked.

"More like she levitated herself." Quinton answered. "Pretty far out."

"If you're now having second thoughts, now is the time to turn back." Sabrina told Bolt.

"You kidding? I think this is gonna be an interesting battle." Bolt grinned. "Bring it on."

"This match will be a three-on-three Pokemon battle!" the referee announced. "Only the challenger will be allowed to switch Pokemon! Let the battle commence!"

"Let's rock, Magnezone!" Bolt called as he threw a pokeball. The magnetic Pokemon burst out and hovered over the battlefield.

"Using Magnezone's a pretty smart move." Lorain commented. "Since it's a steel-type, Magnezone is fairly resistant to psychic-type attacks."

"Go Gallade!" Sabrina called as she threw her own ball.

Bursting out of Sabrina's pekeball was a white slender almost humanoid creature with a green torso and arms. Red spikes grew from his chest and back, and his green forearms were like blades. The top of its head resembled a green helmet with a prominent blue crest like that of a gladiator helmet.

"Crud." Bolt cursed.

"Oh no! A psychic and fighting-type?" a concerned Lorain observed.

"Makes sense. Sabrina probably gets a ton of challengers who use dark or steel-types." Quinton pointed out. "Having a Pokemon like Gallade on hand would give her an edge."

"Use Bulldoze." Sabrina commanded.

Gallade took a fighting stance and stomped the ground. Massive shards of earth erupted from the battlefield and struck Magnezone from below, flipping the mechanical Pokemon through the air. Magnezone managed to keep itself from crashing into the high ceiling of the arena and flew back down towards Gallade.

"Use Thunderbolt!" Bolt commanded.

Magnezone let loose a bolt of yellow electricity that shot down and struck Gallade. The psychic gladiator seemed to withstand the attack, however.

"Focus Blast." Sabrina commanded.

Gallade brought his hands together and a ball of blue-green energy formed between them. When the ball became large enough, Gallade shot the projectile up at Magnezone, causing it to flip in the air.

"Bulldoze." Sabrina ordered.

Gallade stomped the ground again and sent another wave of earth at Magnezone. Magnezone was struck from below again and this time crashed to the ground.

"Magnezone is unable to battle!" the masked man declared. "Round one goes to Sabrina and Gallade!"

"This is gonna be trickier than I thought." Bolt observed as he called back Magnezone. "But I'm up for the challenge! Let's rock, Luxray!" The electric lion burst out of the thrown ball and glared at Gallade.

"Another Electric Pokemon?" Sabrina observed with a raised eyebrow.

"You've got your specialty, and I've got mine." Bolt replied. "Luxray, use Signal Beam!"

"Bulldoze." Sabrina commanded.

After shaking his head, Gallade stomped the ground once more and caused a wave of ground towards Luxray. Luxray managed to avoid the attack by leaping into the air and fired swirling beams of red and green light from his eyes as he came at Gallade. Gallade was hit in the face by the beams, staggering back slightly as Luxray landed on the ground.

"Now use Wild Charge!" Bolt commanded.

Luxray charged full speed at Gallade and became shrouded in yellow electricity. The lion rammed into Gallade's chest, sending the psychic gladiator back a couple of feet. Gallade managed to remain standing after the attack, however.

"Psycho Cut." Sabrina ordered.

"Wild Charge one more time!" Bolt ordered.

Gallade's blade-like forearms began to glow with a blue light as he swung them in the air, sending circular blades made of blue energy at Luxray. Luxray charged through the attack and gave Gallade another electrically charged ram to the chest. Once again, Gallade managed to remain standing after the attack, but seemed to be breathing heavily.

"Seems like Gallade's taken a fair bit of damage from Luxray's attacks." Quinton observed.

"Yeah, but Luxray looks like he's taken some damage too." Lorain pointed out. "Between the recoil damage from Wild Charge and that Psycho Cut attack, Luxray may not last too much longer."

"Use Psycho Cut once more." Sabrina commanded.

"Charge Beam!" Bolt ordered.

Gallade swung his arms and sent another barrage of energy blades at Luxray. Luxray was hit by the attack but managed to recover and fired two beams of electrical energy from his eyes. Gallade was hit in the chest by the attack and fell to the ground unconscious.

"Gallade is unable to battle!" the masked man declared. "Round two goes to Bolt and Luxray!"

"Impressive." Sabrina praised as she called back Gallade. "You're handling yourself better than most of the challengers that come here. However, I'm afraid you won't be able to last much longer."

Just then, a pokeball hanging on Sabrina's belt burst open on its own. The creature that came out was a floating purple creature that resembled some kind of monstrous head with a large jagged mouth and three spikes on each side. Floating on either side of the creature were two detached clawed hands.

"What is it Haunter?" Sabrina asked the shadowy Pokemon. Haunter spoke to Sabrina in its own language and pointed at the battlefield. "Are you saying you want to battle?" Haunter nodded. "Okay then. Go." Haunter happily floated onto the battlefield.

"Huh? But Haunter's not even a psychic-type!" Lorain protested.

"Luxray, use Charge Beam again!" Bolt commanded.

"Dodge and use Confuse Ray!" Sabrina ordered.

Luxray fired another electrical blast from his eyes. Haunter moved out of the way of the attack however and began juggling a multicolored ball of light between his floating hands. With his right hand, Haunter threw the ball at Luxray and hit the lion in the face. Luxray suddenly began to stagger around.

"Now use Lick." Sabrina ordered.

Haunter moved in and opened his mouth to reveal a large pink tongue. The ghostly Pokemon licked Luxray in the face, and afterward Luxray suddenly seemed to have trouble moving.

"Now Luxray's confused and paralyzed!" a concerned Lorain observed.

"Dang it!" Bolt cursed. "Okay Luxray! Try using Charge Beam again!"

"Shadow Ball." Sabrina ordered.

Luxray fired another electrical ray from his eyes but completely missed Haunter. At the same time, Haunter formed a crackling ball of black energy between his claws and threw it at Luray, hitting the lion in the head.

"Now use Psychic." Sabrina commanded.

Haunter's eyes glowed blue and suddenly Luxray began to glow with a strange blue aura. The ghostly Pokemon moved his right hand and Luxray was flung into the air by an invisible force. Haunter moved his hands as if juggling and the electric lion was being thrown through the air in a circle. After a few moments of this, Haunter moved his right hand downward and flung Luxray into the ground with enough force to make a small crater. When the dust settled, Luxray was out cold.

"Luxray is unable to battle!" the masked man declared. "Round three goes to Sabrina and Haunter!"

"I gotta say, Sabrina. You're pretty good." Bolt praised as he called back Luxray. "I'm really having a blast in this battle."

Sabrina blinked in surprised. "You're actually enjoying yourself?"

"Sure. Aren't you?" Bolt asked.

"Well… to be honest, I've never really thought about it before." Sabrina admitted. "In the past my battles have been solely to demonstrate my psychic powers. And most of the challengers who come here are intimidated by me."

"Well not me." Bolt assured her. "This is one of the best gym battles I've ever had. And with you, I think I can go all out! Let's rock, Raikou!" The tiger of thunder burst out of its thrown ball and roared at Sabrina and Haunter.

"A Raikou? How did you…?" a noticeably surprised Sabrina began to ask.

"Raikou! Hit Haunter with Extrasensory!" Bolt commanded.

Raikou's eyes glowed yellow and it fired a beam of golden light from the crest on its forehead. Haunter was hit in the face and almost knocked out of the air.

"Now use Thunderbolt!" Bolt ordered.

Raikou roared and fired a bolt of yellow lightning at Haunter. Haunter was electrocuted by the attack and dropped to the ground unconscious.

"Haunter is unable to battle!" the masked man declared. "Round four goes to Bolt and Raikou!"

"This battle sure has gotten pretty intense." Quinton observed.

"Yeah. I can't believe that Bolt's had to resort to using Raikou." Lorain replied.

"This battle has become most interesting." Sabrina remarked as she called back Haunter. "I find myself feeling… excited? Yes, that's it. I'm feeling an excitement about this battle."

"Then let's keep rockin'." Bolt told her.

"Very well." Sabrina agreed as she pulled out her next pokeball. "Go Alakazam!"

Emerging from Sabrina's thrown ball was a strange bipedal creature with a large head resembling that of a fox with long whiskers growing on both sides of its narrow snout. Much of its body was colored a brownish yellow. It upper torso along with its knees and forearms seemed to be covered in brown armor. In each hand the creature carried a large silver spoon.

"Use Thunder!" Bolt commanded.

"Kinesis!" Sabrina ordered.

Raikou roared and a bolt of lightning shot from the cloud on its back towards the ceiling. As the lightning bolt came down towards Alakazam, the psychic Pokemon raised one of his spoons and his eyes glowed blue. Suddenly the lightning bolt turned away at the last second and hit the ground around him.

"Thunderbolt!" Bolt ordered.

"Use Kinesis again!" Sabrina commanded.

Raikou shot another bolt of lightning at Alakazam, but the psychic raised his right spoon again and his eyes glowed as the bolt came towards him. The attack curved to the left and struck the empty wall of the arena.

"This is not good." Quinton declared on the sidelines. "Kinesis lowers the accuracy of the enemy it's used on. As it is now, Raikou's aim is totally off. If Bolt can't hit Alakazam, he's finished."

"Okay Raikou! Move in close!" Bolt commanded.

"Psychic!" Sabrina ordered.

Raikou began to charge towards Alakazam, but the psychic creature's eyes began to glow blue and Raikou started to give off a blue aura. With a wave of Alakazam's left hand, the tiger of thunder was hurled into the far wall of the arena. Raikou swiftly recovered though and charged at Alakazam again.

"Use Psybeam!" Sabrina commanded.

"Get in close and use Hyper Beam!" Bolt ordered.

Alakazam fired beams of multicolored light from his eyes as Raikou charged towards him. Raikou withstood the attack, and when it came less than a foot away from Alakazam and fired a beam of golden light from its mouth, hurling the psychic Pokemon back a few feet.

"Recover!" Sabrina ordered.

Alakazam rose to his feet and his eyes glowed. Suddenly all the damage he had taken seemed to disappear.

"Now Bolt's back to square one!" a worried Lorain observed.

"So this is Sabrina's strategy using Alakazam. She uses Kinesis to make attacks less likely to hit, and for the attacks that do hit she uses Recover." Quinton observed. "With that combo, she and Alakazam can outlast just about any opponent that comes their way."

"Since Raikou just used Hyper Beam, its energy is too drained to make another attack for a few moments." Sabrina pointed out to Bolt. "Alakazam, use Psybeam again!"

Alakazam fired two more beams of light from his eyes that struck Raikou and managed to knock him back half a foot. Raikou quickly recovered however and growled at Alakazam.

"Raikou! Get in close again and use Thunderbolt!" Bolt commanded.

Raikou swiftly charged in and managed to shock Alakazam with a powerful bolt of lightning. Alakazam cried out as he was electrocuted and fell to one knee when the attack ended.

"Use Recover!" Sabrina commanded.

"Hyper Beam!" Bolt ordered.

Before Alakazam could make another move, Raikou hit the psychic in the chest with a close range Hyper Beam. The attack hurled Alakazam into the wall with enough force to leave a large dent. After a moment, Alakazam fell forward and collapsed to the ground.

"I can't believe Raikou was able to get in another attack so quickly." Lorain spoke.

"That last Thunderbolt must've paralyzed Alakazam enough to make him too slow to use Recover in time." Quinton theorized.

"Uh… Alakazam is unable to battle!" the masked man declared. "The match goes to Bolt and Raikou!"

With the battle finally at an end, Bolt and Sabrina called back their respective Pokemon and walked towards each other. Meanwhile Lorain and the others all breathed a sigh of relief.

"I… greatly enjoyed our battle." Sabrina told Bolt. "As a reward for beating me, here is the Marsh Badge."

"Thanks." Bolt replied as he took the badge that Sabrina handed him. "I had a real blast."

"Would… you and your friends mind staying here for a little while?" Sabrina requested. "Perhaps we could get to know each other better."

"Uh… 'kay?" Bolt replied.

* * *

><p>Ross had been sitting in a room at the old dojo for several minutes waiting for Ryuji to come back. The martial arts master had left him to make a few calls as he had put it. Just as Ross was about to get up and stretch his legs, Ryuji walked back into the room.<p>

"My apologies for keeping you waiting." Ryuji told him.

"Mind telling me what the hell this is all about?" Ross impatiently asked.

"I told you before that this dojo was once the official Pokemon League Gym of Saffron City." Ryuji reminded him as he sat down. "It had been the gym for many decades and trainers from all around would come to challenge us for a badge to train with us as apprentices. But then one day a few years ago, that witch Sabrina came with her followers and challenged us for our title. She told us that the reason she wanted her gym to be the official gym of Saffron so that she could demonstrate her powers to others."

"So was there like a major brawl or something?" Ross asked.

"There almost was a war in the streets, yes." Ryuji answered. "But an official from the Pokemon League soon came to find a peaceful resolution to the problem. She thought that both Sabrina and our master were more than qualified to become gym leaders, so the official decided to have that witch and our master do battle to decide who's gym would be the official one. The day of battle came, and my fellow students and I watched as Sabrina crushed our master and his Pokemon in less than a second. Our master had yet to even make a move."

"Harsh." Ross declared.

"That day was the beginning of the end for this dojo." Ryuji continued. "That witch's gym was declared the official gym of this city. And later that night, our master disappeared."

"What do you mean?" Ross asked. "You think this woman Sabrina did something to him?"

"That, no one has been able to say. But I believe that may be the case." Ryuji told him. "The next day, Sabrina sent her minions here to trash our dojo in order to send us a message. We were able to repair the damage of course, but since then this once great gym has fallen into obscurity. Hardly any trainers come here anymore, and the few who do leave as soon as they find out we are not the city's official gym. Not only that, the number of students we have has declined steadily over the years."

"So after you were beaten, this Sabrina woman sent her guys to rub it in your face?" Ross asked somewhat angrily. "Man, she sounds like a real piece of work. Reminds me of this guy who roughed up a friend of mine a little while ago. You know I bet if I had a few minutes with that bitch, I could teach her a thing or two."

Ryuji smirked. "I was hoping that would be your attitude. It might interest you to know that one of my students has recently noticed a change in Sabrina recently. She seems weaker, somehow. Now would be a perfect time for us to strike at that witch's gym and take back our honor, especially now that you are here."

"What do you mean?" Ross asked.

Ryuji rose to his feet. "I have already contacted the dojo's strongest fighters to come here and launch our counterattack on that witch. It would mean much if a trainer of your strength would join us."

"You want me to help you guys teach that girl Sabrina a lesson?" Ross asked. "…What the heck? Count me in."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> For this chapter I've borrowed yet another element from the Generation One games. Those familiar with Red, Blue and Yellow might recall that next to the gym there was a Fighting Dojo that was said to be the original gym before Sabrina and her psychic friends went over and crushed them. In this version of the story I had the dojo placed right across the street for various reasons, and because of Sabrina's original personality from the anime I decided to take the storyline to a whole other level. Things are going to get a little rough in the next chapter.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	14. Revenge of the Dojo

**Author's Note:** I hope I didn't keep everyone waiting too long for this chapter. It ended up taking me a little longer than I thought to write, plus I've had to deal with more internet issues. But hopefully this next installment will be worth the wait.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon. If I did, Sabrina would've made return appearances in the anime.

* * *

><p>Chapter 14: Revenge of the Dojo<p>

Ross still had many doubts about helping Ryuji in his attempt to avenge the dojo, even though he had agreed to help out. He couldn't help but sympathize with the martial arts master and his students about how their status as a gym had been stolen from them. Ross could never stand bullies, especially the kind who all thought they were better than everyone else. From everything that Ryuji had told him, it seemed that Sabrina was that kind of bully. Yet he couldn't help but wonder if perhaps the psychic gym leader's dark reputation might've been exaggerated. Ross also knew that it was possible for people to blow things out of proportion, and it was very possible for a proud fighter like Ryuji to overreact to an insult.

It had taken a little less than ten minutes for Ryuji's students to arrive at the dojo. There were sixteen of them in all, made up of twelve young men and four young women. After the students had changed into their white training garb, they met with Ryuji and Ross in one of the training rooms and stood at attention.

"Today, my students, is a day that will live proudly in the history of this dojo!" Ryuji told them. "Today we shall reclaim our stolen honor from the witch Sabrina and avenge our missing founder!"

"Let's just hold on a sec." Ross told them all. "I get why you guys are pissed, but are we sure we're doing the right thing coming after the gym like this?"

"Sensei, who is this man?" asked a brown-haired male student standing towards the front.

"This young man is a trainer who has heard of our plight and agreed to help us." Ryuji explained.

"Yeah, well… I'm still not really sold on going to war with you guys over this thing." Ross told them. "I mean is this girl Sabrina really worth it?"

"I understand your hesitation, Ross." Ryuji assured him. "Going to war like this, as you put it, is not a step that should be taken lightly. But I have only told you of but a fraction of what the enemy we are up against is capable of. Not only is she a powerful trainer of Psychic Pokemon, she has psychic powers of her own."

"Wait, what?" a surprised Ross asked.

"A few of the students here have in the past challenged Sabrina in attempt to avenge us." Ryuji revealed. "And each attempt ended in disaster. Which of you here would like to share your experience fighting Sabrina?"

"Sir!" called a large and dark-haired student in the back as he raised his hand. "When I challenged Sabrina, she used her powers to throw me across the room. I am ashamed to say that I ran away screaming after that battle."

"Anyone else?" Ryuji asked.

A female student with long black hair tied in pigtails raised her hand next. "I went to what is now the Saffron Gym to take back this dojo's honor. I lost my battle, and the next thing I knew I had been shrunk down to the size of a doll and placed inside some kind of toy village as that monster's plaything. Had a strange bearded man with the same power as Sabrina not come along to save me, I would still be in that toy town."

Ryuji then turned to a female student with long chestnut-brown hair standing in the front row. "And what about you, Maya? Why don't you share your story with Ross?"

Maya looked away for a moment and turned pale. "I… I went to challenge the Saffron Gym a couple of years ago. And when I lost… I was turned into a doll! An actual rag doll! I couldn't do anything but speak, constantly at that creature's mercy! After a while when she got bored with me she stuck me a toy box with two other dolls like me. One day by some miracle I was returned to my normal form, but… I'll never forget the terror of that horrible existence!"

"You were not a student here when you challenged Sabrina, were you Maya?" Ryuji revealed.

"No sensei." Maya admitted. "I joined this dojo to become strong enough to defeat that monster!"

"There are two other students here with the same story." Ryuji told Ross. "Surely you can see now that this is not just a matter of honor. We do this to rid this city of a great terror!"

Ross was quite stunned to hear the stories of Ryuji's students. The stories all sounded farfetched, yet he could see in their eyes that they had been telling the truth. He could see the frightened expression Maya had on her face from just remembering what had happened to her, and it caused anger to boil up inside of him.

"So Ross, will you soon stand with us?" Ryuji asked.

"…Okay." Ross agreed as he balled his hands into fists. "Let me at that bitch!"

* * *

><p>Sabrina had led Bolt and the others into a small kitchen located somewhere in the back of the gym. As Bolt and his companions sat at the little wooden table in the center of the room, Sabrina stood before them in front of the counter.<p>

"Would any of you care for something to drink?" Sabrina asked them.

"I guess I'll have a soda if you got one." Quinton decided.

"Same here." Skins answered.

"I'll take a lemonade." Bolt decided.

"Just water for me, thanks." Lorain told her.

Sabrina nodded and turned towards the counter. Suddenly the door to the fridge opened on its own. Two cans of grape soda levitated out of the fridge and landed softly on the table before Quinton and Skins. At the same time, a bottle of premade lemonade floated out of the fridge while the cupboard door opened and two glasses levitated out. One of the glasses landed on the table and the bottle of lemonade opened itself and poured part of its contents into the waiting glass. Meanwhile the other glass floated towards the faucet, which seemed to turn on under its own power and filled the waiting container. The two filled glassed floated onto the table before Bolt and Lorain. When Sabrina turned back to the gang, Bolt and his friends looked at her with jaws hanging open.

"Um, my apologies. Perhaps I should've served your drinks to you the normal way." Sabrina assumed.

"Nah, it's… it's cool." Bolt assured her. "It was sort of like dinner theater, I guess. Right guys?" The others nodded in agreement.

"You're very kind." Sabrina told them as she sat down. "But I understand if you were… unsettled by my powers. Many people are."

"How long have you had these abilities of yours?" Quinton asked.

"Since I was very young." Sabrina answered. "I inherited my abilities from my father, though his powers are not as strong as mine."

"Chip off the old block, huh?" Bolt observed as he took a sip from his glass.

"To what block are you referring?" Sabrina asked with a raised eyebrow.

"He means that you take after your dad." Lorain explained.

"Oh, I see." Sabrina replied before turning back to Bolt. "Perhaps you should've just said that."

"Uh… 'kay?" Bolt replied.

Suddenly a pokeball on Sabrina's belt burst open and Haunter emerged. The ghostly Pokemon had since recovered from his battle with Bolt and Raikou. Haunter immediately flew out of the kitchen and came back seconds later carrying a red balloon filled with water. Faster than Sabrina could react, Haunter threw the ball into the side of her head at fairly close range, drenching the green-haired psychic in water. From the stern expression on Sabrina's face, it looked to Bolt and the others like she was about to try and tear Haunter to pieces. Instead though, she suddenly burst out giggling.

"You got me again, Haunter." Sabrina told the ghost as she managed to compose herself. "I did not see that coming."

Lorain tapped Bolt on the arm, causing him and the others to huddle together a bit. "Is it just me, or does Sabrina seem a little… off?"

"Well, they say the world takes all kinds or something like that." Bolt whispered back.

"I find her fascinating." Quinton admitted.

At that moment, walking into the kitchen was a woman with long brown hair tied in a ponytail. She had on a yellow dress and a pink sweater with an undone zipper on the front.

"Hello Sabrina." The woman spoke, getting the gym leader's attention.

"Hello, mother." Sabrina replied.

"So, I see you have some friends visiting you." Sabrina's mother observed before turning to Bolt and the others. "Hi. I'm Sabrina's mother, Nadeshiko."

"Hi." Bolt replied. "Your daughter was just showing us some hospitality after the gym battle I just had with her."

Nadeshiko nodded and then noticed her daughter was soaked. "Sabrina, why are you all wet?"

"Haunter threw a water balloon at me." Sabrina explained.

"I see." Nadeshiko chuckled as she shook her head. "Well why don't you take a few minutes to dry off and I'll keep your new friends company."

Sabrina nodded before getting out of her chair and leaving the kitchen. Haunter quickly followed after her as Nadeshiko sat at the table.

"Your daughter is quite the interesting lady, ma'am." Quinton remarked.

"You have no idea how glad I am to see Sabrina trying to make new friends." Nadeshiko told them.

"Has that been difficult because of her powers?" Lorain asked.

"That's one way to put it, yes." Nadeshiko confirmed as her expression darkened. "You see when Sabrina developed her powers when she was a little girl, she became obsessed with refining them. So much so that she ended up blocking out all her emotions. It soon got to a point where her personality split in two. One half was that of a ruthless Pokemon Trainer that wished nothing more than to battle in order to test her powers, while the other half was a little girl that always wanted to play. That half manifested as a doll that Sabrina always carried with her."

"That sounds nuts." Bolt remarked. "But I didn't notice any doll with her."

"Well, thankfully all that changed not too long ago." Nadeshiko revealed. "It's thanks to that Haunter of hers that Sabrina was finally able to quit shutting out her emotions. Haunter was given to her by a young trainer who had come to challenge her named Ash."

"Ash, huh? Dark-haired kid? Travels with a Pikachu and a cute redhead?" Bolt asked.

"Why yes. Is he a friend of yours?" Nadeshiko asked.

"Sorta." Bolt confirmed. "I met him while I was in Johto not too long ago."

"Well, Sabrina's come a long way since that time. But she's still got a long way to go too." Nadeshiko admitted. "It hasn't been easier for Sabrina to deal with her emotions since they've returned. She's still rather awkward, socially. And she's quite isolated because of her powers. She's realized that some of the things she can do frightens most people, and it's made her a little standoffish. So I'm very glad to see my daughter making an effort to get to know you."

Just then the group heard a large noise like an explosion coming from somewhere else in the building. Bolt and the rest of the gang instantly rose to their feet as the masked man from before ran into the kitchen.

"What's going on out there, man?" Bolt asked.

"The gym is under attack!" the masked man reported. "From the way they're dressed, the attacks seem to be from the old dojo across the street."

"The one that Ross went to check out?" an alarmed Lorain asked.

"Why would these guys suddenly attack the gym?" Quinton wondered.

"Regretfully Lady Sabrina and the dojo have an unfortunate past." The masked man revealed. "The dojo used to be this city's official Pokemon Gym before Lady Sabrina decided to take their title as a demonstration of their power."

"That's how she became this city's gym leader?" a shocked Lorain asked.

"My daughter sadly did a lot of terrible things during the time her emotions were cut off." Nadeshiko admitted.

"So why have these guys suddenly decided to get payback now?" Bolt asked.

"I do not know, but we need to stop them before they completely destroy the gym." The masked man told them.

"Then let's clear these guys out!" Bolt decided.

Within moments Bolt and his gang arrived in the arena with Nadeshiko and found the place being torn apart by the students of the dojo. Most of them were using Primeape and its pre-evolved form, Mankey, and at least three of the students were using the two-armed pre-evolved form of Machamp, Machoke. Two of Sabrina's psychic trainers were in the arena using a pair of Drowzee to try and fend the students off, but the number of the students' Pokemon was proving too much for them.

"Go Aerodactyl!" Skins called as he threw out a pokeball. The prehistoric wyvern flew out of the ball, surprising the students. "Sky Drop!"

Aerodactyl swooped in and scooped up one of the Machock in his talons. After flying all the way up to the high ceiling of the gym, Aerodactyl flung the Machoke to the arena floor. The muscular Pokemon raised a cloud of dust as it impacted with the arena floor.

"Go get 'em, Chrome!" Quinton called as he threw his own ball. The silver Metang burst out and joined the battle. "Use Confusion!"

Chrome's eyes glowed and suddenly five of the students' Mankey began to glow with a blue aura and were lifted off the ground. The fighting Pokemon were flung into the arena wall by an invisible force.

"Let's rock, Raikou!" Bolt called with his own throw. The tiger of thunder burst out onto the battlefield. "Use Thunder!"

Raikou roared and a bolt of lighting shot from the cloud on its back. The lightning hit the ceiling and split apart, coming back down to strike the remaining Fighting Pokemon. The students' Pokemon were knocked out upon being hit.

"I don't know what the hell all this is about, but you guys better get out of here!" Bolt warned the students.

"Back off, Bolt!" a familiar voice called. Bolt and the others were surprised to see Ross walk into the arena past the students. "This is something we need to do."

"Ross, what the…?" a stunned Bolt began to ask.

"Are you actually helping these clowns?" Quinton asked the white-haired trainer.

"They're fighting for a good cause." Ross told them. "I don't know what you guys have been told while you've been over here, but that girl Sabrina and her freaky gym need to go down!"

"Did your new posse tell you that?" Bolt asked.

"The dojo these students are from used to be the official Pokemon Gym of this city." Ross informed them. "But then that bitch, Sabrina came and trampled all over them! She stole their status as a gym and then had her goons trash the place! And you wouldn't believe some of the stuff she's put some of these guys through. She needs to be taken out once and for all!"

"Dude, you don't know jack about what's going on!" Bolt told him.

"And I suppose you're some big expert since coming over here?" Ross asked.

"I know a hell of a lot more than you do!" Bolt answered. "Maybe Sabrina did some bad stuff in the past, but she's no monster. She's just different!"

"That's a whole lot of crap!" Ross shot back.

"Please! I'm sorry for what my daughter did in the past, but she wasn't her true self!" Nadeshiko told them all.

"Lady, I don't give a damn about what you have to say!" Ross told her. "Now where's Sabrina? I'm gonna teach that bitch a lesson!"

"I'm not gonna let you do that, Ross!" Bolt declared.

"Say what?" Ross responded.

"If you wanna come at Sabrina, then you're gonna have to go through me and Raikou to do it!" Bolt told him. Raikou roared in agreement.

"Then I guess that's how it's gotta be!" Ross replied as he threw a pokeball. "Go Poliwrath!" The fighting polliwog Pokemon burst out of his ball.

"Thunderbolt!" Bolt commanded.

"Mind Reader and Dynamic Punch!" Ross ordered.

Raikou let loose another bolt of electricity and shocked Poliwrath. Poliwrath remained standing however and his eyes began to glow. The polliwog charged in as his raised fist began to glow green. Raikou attempted to move to the right of the attack, but Poliwrath quickly adjusted his movements and managed to strike the tiger in the side of the head. Raikou staggered a bit after being hit.

"Raikou or not, I'm gonna take you down!" Ross declared. "Poliwrath! Use Ice Punch!"

"Raikou! Shake that punch off and use Extrasensory!" Bolt ordered.

Poliwrath's raised fist became covered in an icy mist as he charged in to attack Raikou. At the last minute though, Raikou shook its head and fired a beam of light from its head crest that struck Poliwrath head on. The attack hurled Poliwrath back a few feet, but he managed to get back up.

"Dammit Ross, just back off!" Bolt ordered.

"No way in hell!" Ross insisted. "I can't let this Sabrina get away with all the crap she's pulled!"

"You don't even know her!" Bolt argued.

"I know enough!" Ross told him. "I know that she not only trampled over the dojo, she also put some of its students through a living hell! You're telling me that you're just willing to let her get away with that?"

"Her head wasn't quite right back then, Ross!" Bolt argued. "Sure she did some bad stuff, but she's different now! Maybe that doesn't excuse whatever it is she did, but you and these dojo guys can't keep holding that against her!"

"You don't know crap!" Ross shot back. "Poliwrath! Hit Raikou with Scald!"

"Use Thunder!" Bolt commanded.

Poliwrath fired a steaming blast of water from his chest and hit Raikou in the face. Raikou quickly recovered from the attack and roared, shooting another bolt of lighting up at the ceiling. The lightning bolt came down and struck Poliwrath where he stood. The fighting polliwog wobbled on his feet for a few moments before falling on his back. Seeing that Poliwrath was no longer able to fight, Ross gritted his teeth and called him back to his ball.

"We can do this all day, if you want!" Bolt told Ross. "Just back off now!"

"We will not back off!" a voice suddenly cut in. Bolt and the others looked and saw Ryuji standing in the doorway of the arena. "For too long we have let that witch, Sabrina have free reign of this city! She must be eliminated now!"

"What's going on here?" a voice interrupted. Everyone looked to see Sabrina walking into the arena.

"So, the monster finally reveals herself." Ryuji smirked. "You've got a lot to answer for, witch! The pain you have inflicted upon my dojo and its students will be returned to you a thousand fold!"

"Dojo?" Sabrina repeated. "You're from the old gym across the street?"

"So you bothered to remember us. How good of you." Ryuji replied. "Now I shall make you suffer in the name of my gym and my old master! Go Hitmonlee!"

The kickboxing Pokemon burst out of Ryuji's thrown ball. Raikou, Aerodactyl and Chrome quickly moved in to keep Hitmonlee and Ryuji from attacking Sabrina.

"So the witch has gotten herself some protectors." Ryuji observed. "I suggest you all back down, for I will crush all who stand in my way!"

"No way, dude!" Bolt told him. "Now get the hell out of here?"

"What is all of this about?" Sabrina asked. "Is this because I defeated your old master years ago when I started this gym?"

"It's about more than that!" the student Maya told Sabrina as she stepped into the room. "Remember me? I was one of the trainers you turned into a doll and left rot in a box! I'll never forgive you for what you did! You're nothing but a freak! A monster!"

"A… monster?" Sabrina responded. "Yes… I suppose I am."

"Sabrina?" Nadeshiko responded.

The psychic gym leader moved her hand and levitated a small thrown rock off the floor of the battlefield. The stone was quickly carved by an invisible force and sharped into a spearhead. In a flash the carved weapon flew towards Sabrina and stopped inches from her neck.

"Sabrina, what are you doing?" a horrified Nadeshiko asked.

"Perhaps these people are right. I am an abnormality." Sabrina replied. "I have powers that perhaps no human should have. Therefore it might be better if I was not alive."

"Sabrina, NO!" Nadeshiko called.

"Goodbye." Sabrina spoke as a tear rolled down her cheek.

Suddenly Bolt moved in and slapped the spearhead away. The weapon struck the wall and broke in half.

"What the hell are you thinking?" Bolt asked as he grabbed Sabrina by the shoulders. "You can't just throw your life away like that! So maybe you have these crazy powers. But that just means you're different, not a freak. And if people like these jerks can't understand that, then they can all go to hell!"

"But… I did so many bad things in the past." Sabrina told him as she began to lose her composure.

"Maybe. But you were a different person back then." Bolt pointed out. "I don't know the first thing about the old you, but I know she wouldn't have tried to do what you almost did just now because she wouldn't have felt bad about what she did at all. Besides, there are a lot of people pretty sad to see you end it all, like your mom and Haunter. I'd be pretty bummed too."

At this Sabrina completely broke down. Nadeshiko quickly came over and pulled her into a hug. Bolt turned his attention away from the mother and daughter and looked over at Ross, who was looking down in shame. The blonde rocker stormed over to Ross and punched him in the face, knocking him on his butt.

"Ya happy now, you dumbass?" Bolt asked him. "You and these dojo idiots should all be ashamed of yourselves! Because of you Sabrina almost ended it all! Is that what you wanted?"

Ross said nothing and looked away from Bolt. Most of the students from the dojo were now looking down in shame. Ryuji on the other hand was not moved.

"Do you think those false tears are going to fool anyone?" Ryuji shouted at Sabrina. "Well I will not be fooled by your trickery! I will put an end to you right here and now!"

"Ryuji! Stop this at once!" a gruff-sounding voice ordered.

Ryuji and everyone in the area looked and saw a stern-faced old man standing in the doorway. He stood at a little less than five feet and had a frail yet muscular build. The only hair on the old man's head was a white beard and a pair of bushy eyebrows. He wore a red headband and a white gi with somewhat baggy sleeves and a black belt.

"M-Master Ito, sensei!" a stunned Ryuji spoke. "You've finally returned after all this time!"

Most of the other students had the same reaction as Ryuji. Many of them got down and kneeled before the old man.

"What's going on?" Lorain wondered.

"If I had to guess, I'd say the old man is the one who ran the dojo before this Ryuji jerk." Quinton deduced.

"Ryuji, I am gravely disappointed in you." Ito told him. "To think that you, my finest student would lead an attack on this gym like a gang of delinquents!"

"But sensei! That witch stole our dojo's title!" Ryuji reminded him.

"That girl stole nothing from us." Ito told him. "She won our gym's title fairly in combat. The fault was mine for losing to her. So I left to go on a training journey and entrusted you with running the dojo. To think that I would come back and find this disgrace!"

"But sensei…" Ryuji tried to argue.

"Enough! I will hear no more of this!" Ito told him. "You have tarnished our dojo's name! And for that, I want nothing more to do with you! You are no longer my apprentice, Ryuji! Now leave my sight at once!"

"I… I understand, sensei." Ryuji replied with a bow. He silently walked past Ito and left the arena.

"As for the rest of you students, you can either leave or help the people of this gym repair the damage you've done!" Ito told them. "But know that if you wish to leave, there is no need for you to come back to the dojo."

After a moment, Maya and at least two of the other students silently left the arena. The rest of the students remained kneeling where they were. Ito meanwhile walked up to Sabrina and Nadeshiko.

"I apologize deeply for what has transpired here today." Ito told them. "I never imagined anything like this would happen. Please forgive for what my former disciple and his students have done."

"No… it's my fault." A now more composed Sabrina told him. "I took things way too far before."

"Perhaps, but Ryuji and my other students should have risen above what happened." Ito replied. "In the end, vengeance only leads to more vengeance, creating a long chain of anger and bitterness that carries on down through the ages. Only through forgiveness can this chain be broken."

"He's right." Ross spoke as he walked up. "Things went way too far here today. And I was a total idiot for getting caught up in it. I'm sorry about that."

Sabrina stepped out of Nadeshiko's arms and walked up to Ross. "I accept your apology."

"Thank you." Ross told her. "You know… you're really not what I expected you to be. In fact you're actually pretty cute."

"Cute?" Sabrina repeated with a raised eyebrow. "Are… are you saying you find me physically attractive?"

"Course I am." Ross confirmed. "In fact you're a total babe."

Sabrina blinked in surprise and her face suddenly turned bright red. "Uh… excuse me."

With that, Sabrina ran out of the room back towards the kitchen. Ross merely stood there with his jaw hanging open.

"Oh dear. Looks like I'm going to have to have a little talk with her." Nadeshiko observed before walking after her daughter.

"Looks like you came on a little too strong, dude." Bolt told Ross.

"Guess so." Ross replied. "Look, Bolt…"

"Save it, man. You don't need to explain yourself to me." Bolt told him. "You know, you can be a real hothead sometimes."

"Yeah. That's me alright." Ross chuckled darkly. "Well, guess I should help clean this place up."

"We'll all help." Bolt told him.

* * *

><p>After the damage to the gym had been cleaned up, Bolt and his gang spent the rest of the day visiting with Sabrina and her mother. When the time had come to leave, Bolt told Sabrina that they would meet again one day and that he would try to keep in touch. The following morning, Bolt and the gang walked out of the Pokemon Center and prepared to set off for the next city.<p>

"Ross Jones." A voice spoke, causing the gang to stop and look. Ross and the others saw Ito standing not far away.

Ross walked over to the old man. "What is it, sir?"

"Tell me, why did you join Ryuji in his attack on the gym?" Ito asked.

"Well, at the time I was doing it because it seemed like Sabrina was a bully." Ross answered. "But… maybe deep down I did it just because I was spoiling for a fight. Sometimes I can get so wound up that I'll look for any excuse to pick a fight with someone."

The old martial arts master nodded. "In this life, the worst enemy each of us faces is the one within ourselves. You have great potential as a trainer, Ross. That is why I am entrusting you with this young Pokemon."

Ross took the pokeball that Ito handed him and threw it to see what was inside. The creature that emerged was a small scrawny purple humanoid. It had a large head with three flat-topped horns on top. White bandages were wrapped around his wrists and it looked like he was wearing brown gym shorts and shoes.

"A Tyrogue!" Ross identified.

"As you may know, Tyrogue can evolve into one of three Pokemon depending on how you train it." Ito informed him. "You could evolve him into a Hitmonlee like that fool, Ryuji. Or you can follow your own path and have him evolve into one of the other two Pokemon. Whatever you decide, I think this Pokemon is a perfect fit for you."

"Thank you." Ross replied with a bow. Ito bowed back to the gang and departed.

"You know Ross, I the old guy is right. You and this Tyrogue seem like a pretty good match." Bolt remarked as he kneeled down to get a closer look at the Pokemon. "Hey little guy." Tyrogue responded by jumping up and punching Bolt in the cheek, knocking him on his behind.

Ross smirked. "Oh yeah. This Tyrogue and I are gonna get along just fine."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> I really hope this chapter lived up to everyone's expectations. One thing I wish I could've done differently with this chapter is have more stories featuring Sabrina. So far she's been nothing but a side character in these stories. Of course I am strongly considering doing an eventual story that shows how Sabrina gets together with Morty. Those familiar with my other stories in this AU may recall that those two wound up being a couple.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	15. Erika's Law

**Author's Note:** I ended up having to totally rethink this chapter. That's why it ended up being a little late.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

><p>Chapter 15: Erika's Law<p>

It had taken only a few short days for Bolt and his motely crew to reach the city that was to be the site of Bolt's next gym battle. The distance between Saffron City and its neighbor Celadon had been quite short, and after the group had rested at the Pokemon Center for a bit they had set out to find the gym. It was in the middle of the day, and as the gang headed down the busy street to the location that Nurse Joy had told them was the gym, a sweet smell caught everyone's noses. Lorain was quickly ensnared by the scent and followed it, prompting Bolt and the others to follow. Within moments, the gang found that they were standing before a small but packed perfume shop of some kind.

"Guess this is where that smell is coming from." Quinton deduced.

"Can we go in?" Lorain asked them.

"A perfume store? Lame." Ross declared. "In case you forgot, kid, we can to this city for the gym. Besides, the last time you dragged us somewhere we ended up getting taken hostage."

"Oh c'mon! Can't we just spend a few minutes here?" Lorain begged.

"I dunno Lorain, this isn't really my thing." Bolt replied.

"I bet there a lot of cute girls in there." Lorain pointed out.

"Well c'mon guys! What're we waiting for?" Bolt spoke to the rest of the group, instantly changing his tune. "Let's check this place out!"

"Whatever." Skins shrugged.

"You can count me out." Ross told them. "I'll just wait out here for you guys to be done."

"Same here." Quinton replied. "I'm not crazy about perfume at all."

"Your loss, dudes." Bolt told them before turning to Lorain. "Let's go!"

With that, Bolt entered the shop with Lorain and Skins while Ross and Quinton remained outside. The inside of the shop was packed almost completely packed with women of all ages, as well as a few guys who were most likely there to find gifts for their significant others. While Lorain went to browse and Skins went to just wander around, Bolt spied the young lady manning the register. She looked to be just a little bit older than bolt and had red hair tied in a ponytail and hazel eyes. Right away, Bolt walked over to the front desk to have a talk with her.

"Hey there." Bolt greeted in a suave manner as he leaned against the counter.

"Oh, hello." The redheaded shopkeeper replied. "I'm Candice. Is there something I can help you with?"

"Not really. I just came in with my friend over there." Bolt answered, pointing his thumb at Lorain. "She really wanted to check this place out."

"Is she your little sister?" Candice asked.

"You could say that, I guess." Bolt replied as he pulled down his shades a little, revealing his brown eyes. "I gotta say I wasn't expecting a lovely young lady like you to be working here. Is this like an after school job or something?"

"Well, in a way I guess you could say that." Candice replied with a slight blush.

As Bolt continued to flirt with Candice, walking into the store was a young-looking man who looked like a reject from a 1980s film set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. He stood at just about seven feet tall and was well muscled. His hair was styled in a red Mohawk and he had an orange tattoo around his left eye in the shape of a flame. The hooligan had a nose ring and several piercings in his ears. The rest of his outfit consisted with a black leather vest over a red shirt with the sleeves torn off, along with torn black jeans and a pair of black boots. He also wore black fingerless gloves and a black belt with a silver buckle in the shape of a skull.

The hooligan began to look around the store, prompting some of the patrons to quickly leave. Soon after, Ross and Quinton entered the store and walked up to Bolt.

"Hey Romeo, if you're done picking up babes we should probably go." Ross told Bolt. "That guy who just walked in looked pretty sketchy."

"What guy?" Bolt asked, turning away from Candice.

"That freak in the corner over there!" Ross answered, pointing a thumb at the hooligan. "The guy looks like he could win psycho of the year. But I guess you were too busy to notice."

"Can we just get out of here already?" Quinton asked as he tried to use his jacket to cover his face. "This perfume scent is irritating my nose."

"What was that?" a female voice suddenly interrupted. Walking up to the group was a blue-haired woman wearing a very ornate kimono. "Did I hear one of you say you didn't like this store's perfume?"

"Since you asked lady, that'd be me." Quinton admitted. "And just who the heck are you, anyway?"

"I'm Erika, the manager of this shop." The bluenette answered. "And I don't like it when people insult our products. If you don't like our perfume, than you shouldn't have come in."

"Yeah, well it's not like I had much of a choice." Quinton told her. "Trust me lady, if my friends hadn't dragged me here I would be miles away from this stench pot."

"Dude, chill." Bolt told him.

"What? I'm just being honest!" Quinton replied.

"Look man, I'm not crazy about the smell of this shop either." Bolt admitted. "And I know Ross isn't either. But try and show a little bit of class."

"So, the two of you don't like my perfume either?" Erika asked.

"Uh…" Bolt tried to respond.

"That's it! As of right now, the three of you are banned from my store!" Erika declared.

"Huh? A wait a sec.!" Bolt began. As he spoke, the hooligan began approached the counter. "Look, I'm sorry my friends and I insulted your perfume. Why don't we just forget about this whole thing and start again?"

"What's going on?" Lorain asked as she approached the counter with Skins.

Suddenly Lorain tripped on her shoelace and fell towards the floor. As she tried to keep herself from dropping the bottle of perfume she was carrying, she ended up spraying some of it in the hooligan's face, causing him to react violently and accidentally knock over a whole shelf full of bottles.

"What the hell, you little bitch!" the hooligan cursed. "You sprayed that goddamn stink all over me!"

"That's it! All of you, out!" Erika ordered. "You're all permanently banned from my shop!"

"Hey! I don't give a damn about this store!" the hooligan told her. "I just came here to ask for directions to the freakin' gym!"

"Leave!" Erika ordered again. "If you aren't all out of here in the next thirty seconds, I'm calling the police!"

After a moment, the hooligan backed down and left the shop. Bolt and the rest of his gang quickly did the same.

"Well that was brutal." Ross declared.

"I'll say! Skins and I didn't even do anything!" Lorain pointed out.

"You damn punks!" the hooligan cursed at them, grabbing Quinton by the shirt. "Because of you I went into that girly shop for nothin'!"

"Hey! Back off!" Ross ordered. "You mess with even one of us, you mess with all of us!"

After a moment, the thug backed down and let go of Quinton. "Whatever. You guys would be a waste of my time anyway."

"Who the hell are you, anyway?" Ross asked.

"They call me Napalm. And I spent a week busting my ass getting to this city from Fuchsia to challenge the damn gym." The hooligan answered. "Now I gotta track down someone else who knows where the damn place is! You all better pray that we don't run into each other again."

With that, Napalm walked off. Ross and the others relaxed as soon as he was out of sight.

"Well this day's starting to go south." Quinton declared.

"Let's just focus on getting to the gym." Bolt told them. "That is why we're here."

"Um, I think we might have a little problem with the gym." Lorain informed the others as she looked at a cardboard sign by the door. "It says here that the manager of this store, Erika, is also the leader of this city's gym. And that the perfume they sell is also manufactured at the gym too. I'm guessing that after what just happened, we aren't going to be very welcome there."

"Well that's just great, Lorain!" Ross exclaimed. "This is the second time you dragging us somewhere has bitten us in the ass! First we get taken hostage, and now we're banned from the gym!"

"Hey! Don't blame this on me! This is you guys' fault for ticking off the manager!" Lorain pointed out.

"I had nothing to do with rich boy bashing on that lady's perfume!" Ross informed her.

"What, so now all this is my fault?" an offended Quinton asked.

"Everyone! Cram it!" Bolt ordered, causing the others to look. He let out an exasperated sigh and took off his shades to rub the bridge of his nose. "…Okay, I think we all need to cool it for a bit. You guys can do what you want. Right now I need to take a walk alone and clear my head."

With that, Bolt put his hands in his pockets and silently walked off as the others watched. He walked the streets of Celadon for several minutes in silence, not really paying any attention to where he was going. Eventually he took his guitar in hand and began to strum it. Very often he would use his music as a way of calming himself. Before long, Bolt suddenly found that he had ended up in front of the large greenhouse that was the Celadon Gym. He also saw that Candice seemed to be guarding the door. Seeing an opportunity, Bolt calmly walked towards the redhead.

"So, I guess since this gym makes your shop's perfume, you also work here." Bolt observed, getting Candice's attention.

"Oh! You're the guy from before at the shop." Candice recalled. "If you've come to enter the gym, I'm sorry. I'm afraid you aren't allowed in here. Ms. Erika's orders."

"Oh c'mon, beautiful. You got me all wrong." Bolt told her in a suave manner as he took her hands. "What happened at the shop was a total misunderstanding. I may not be crazy about perfume, but I don't hate it either. I do like the way it smells on lovely ladies like you. You're wearing some now, right?"

"Um… well yes I am." Candice admitted.

"Well it totally suites you." Bolt told her as he removed his shades. "Now, all I came here for was a quick little gym battle. Certainly a beautiful flower like you can make an exception for me and let me see Erika for just a bit, can't ya?"

"Well…" Candice replied as he face turned a deep shade of red. "I don't know. I mean I could get in trouble."

"Don't worry. If your boss has a problem, she can take it up with me." Bolt assured her. "I'll make sure you don't get burned."

"Well… okay." Candice finally agreed. "But if Ms. Erika tells you to leave, you should go."

Candice led Bolt into the large greenhouse. After a few moments, Bolt saw massive fields of trees and grass where several different kinds of Grass Pokemon were frolicking about. Candice escorted Bolt over to one corner of the field where Erika was sitting and reading a book to a group of children and Pokemon. The bluenette has since changed into a sky-blue turtleneck sweater with a long tan skirt.

Erika quickly noticed Bolt and stood to face him. "I don't know how you got in, but you're not welcome."

"Hey, I just came for a little gym battle." Bolt told her. "You know I gotta say, banning trainers from your gym just because they badmouth your perfume is kinda petty from where I stand."

"Petty?" Erika repeated.

"Well yeah. I don't recall having to like perfume as a requirement to face a gym leader." Bolt replied. "How many other trainers have you turned away just because they happened to badmouth your product."

"Um, you know Ms. Erika… we have had a pretty steep drop in male trainers coming to the gym because of that very thing." Candice admitted.

"I'll deal with you in a moment, Candice." Erika told her, causing the redhead to flinch.

"Look, all I'm asking for is a little battle and maybe a badge if I win." Bolt requested. "After that I'll get the hell outta here and you'll never have to see me again."

"Well… alright." Erika finally agreed. "It's my duty as a gym leader to accept your challenge. But win or lose, I must ask you to never come here again when we're done."

"Fair enough." Bolt replied.

Erika then led Bolt over to an open space on the field. As they took their positions, a female referee with light-green hair walked over.

"This match will be a three-on-three Pokemon battle!" the referee announced. "Only the challenger will be allowed to switch Pokemon! Begin!"

"Let's rock, Luxray!" Bolt called with his first throw. The electric lion burst out to face Erika.

"Go Tangrowth!" Erika called with her own throw.

Bursting out of Erika's pokeball was a six-foot-tall mass of tangled blue vines. A pair of large round eyes was visible in a hole in the top on the mass. Its arms were a pair of thicker vines that each ended in a set of three red-tipped fingers.

"Use Signal Beam!" Bolt commanded.

"Stun Spore!" Erika ordered.

Luxray glared at Tangrowth and fired swirling red and green beams of light from his eyes. Tangrowth was struck in the chest by the attack and stumbled back slightly. The vine creature quickly recovered from the attack though and shook its body, releasing several amber-colored particles over the battlefield. Luxray breathed in the spores and suddenly seemed to have a little trouble moving.

"Walk it off, Luxray!" Bolt called. "Use Iron Tail!"

"Attack with Ancient Power!" Erika ordered.

Tangrowth brought its fingers together and a ball of white light formed between them. The vine creature threw the ball at Luxray, hitting him in the face. After a moment Luxray recovered from the attack and leapt into the air. The electric lion flipped towards Tangrowth as the star of his tail became like metal. Luxray's tail came down and slammed Tangrowth on the top of its vine-covered head.

"Hang in there, Tangrowth!" Erika commanded. "Use Power Whip!"

As soon as Luxray landed on the ground, Tangrowth charged towards him as its arms began to glow with a purple light. As soon as it came in range, Tangrowth slammed its right arm onto Luxray's head, followed by its left. Luxray staggered back after being hit but managed to remain standing.

"I think that's enough of that." Bolt decided as he called back Luxray and pulled out another pokeball. "Let's rock, Magnezone!" The magnetic Pokemon flew out of its ball to face Tangrowth. "Use Magnet Bomb!"

Magnezone crackled with blue electricity as energy began to gather in its right magnet. The mechanical Pokemon fired the created ball of light at Tangrowth and hit the creature in the chest. After a moment the tangled mass fell forward onto its chest.

"Tangrowth is unable to battle!" the referee declared. "Round one goes to the challenger and Magnezone."

"Now that I think about it, I never got your name." Erika realized as she called back Tangrowth.

"Sorry. Guess I forgot to give it." Bolt realized. "I'm the badass rocker of Sinnoh, Bolt Hanson."

"Well Bolt, I'm afraid this is one battle you won't win!" Erika declared as she threw her next ball. "Go Weepinbell!" A yellow bell-shaped flower creature burst out of the ball.

"Use Metal Sound!" Bolt commanded.

Magnezone let out a horrid metal screech that caused almost everyone in the greenhouse to cover his or her ears. The noise caused Weepinbell to cry out in pain.

"Please hang in there, Weepinbell!" Erika called. "Use Stun Spore!"

"Dodge it and use another Magnet Bomb!" Bolt commanded.

Weepinbell recovered and shook its body, releasing a cloud of the paralytic spores. Magnezone managed to fly just out of the reach of the cloud as it dispersed over the field and hovered right above Weepinbell. Aiming its body straight down at the yellow plant, Magenzone's body crackled with energy and fired another blue ball of light at Weepinbell. The resulting explosion from the attack hurled Weepinbell into the air.

"Now use Thunderbolt!" Bolt ordered.

Before Weepinbell could hit the ground, Magnezone shocked the plant with a blast of yellow electricity. Soon after the attack ended, Weepinbell finally collided hard with the ground and was knocked out.

"Weepinbell is unable to battle!" the referee declared. "Round two goes to Bolt and Magnezone!"

"That was kinda weak." Bolt remarked as Erika called back Weepinbell. "I was hoping for more of a challenge. Especially since I had such a hard time getting into this place."

"Don't mistake getting lucky with a critical hit for me and my Pokemon being weak." Erika told him before getting out another pokeball. "Go Gloom!"

Bursting out of Erika's thrown ball was a small blue creature with a round body with a face on the front and small arms and legs. The creature's eyes were closed and a tiny bit of drool trailed from the corner of its mouth. On top of its body was a sort of plant with long orange pointed leaves and spherical red petals with white spots. Erika's Pokemon gave off a stench that caused Bolt to quickly cover his nose.

"Aw nasty!" Bolt declared. "Smells like a hundred Garbodor cut one all at once!"

"Gloom and I go back a very long way." Erika told Bolt. "She's never let me down before, and together we're going to beat you!"

"Then bring it on!" Bolt dared.

"Alright then! Gloom, use Petal Blizzard!" Erika commanded.

Gloom began to glow with a pink aura and suddenly levitated into the air. The wind picked up and suddenly a storm of glowing pink petals filled the battlefield and bombarded Magnezone. After a moment the attack ended and Gloom floated back down to the battlefield. Magnezone meanwhile remained airborne.

"Okay Magnezone, hit Gloom with another Magnet Bomb!" Bolt commanded.

After charging its energy again, Magnezone fired another ball of blue light that struck Gloom and raised a cloud of dust. When the dust settled though, Gloom was still standing.

"Okay. Looks like this is gonna be a pretty decent battle." Bolt observed.

* * *

><p>Napalm approached the front of the gym and found two young women guarding it. One of the ladies had blonde hair tied in a braided ponytail and the other had shoulder-length sky blue hair. Both ladies tensed up when they saw Napalm approach.<p>

"So, after turning over every rock in this city I finally found the damn gym." Napalm observed.

"Sorry, but you're not allowed in." the blonde told him.

"Say what?" Napalm asked.

"This gym is also the place where we manufacture perfume." The blonde explained. "The same perfume we sell at the store you were banned from today."

"You're tellin' me that because I said one bad thing about a freakin' perfume I'm banned from a Pokemon Gym?" Napalm asked as his hand balled into a fist.

"That's right." The blonde confirmed. "Now get lost! You're not welcome here!"

"You damn BITCH!" Napalm cursed as he punched the blonde in the face, knocking her out.

"Kimi!" the worried bluenette called. Suddenly Napalm grabbed her by the neck and lifted her off the ground.

"I've come way too far to get to this goddamn gym just to be turned away because of a girly perfume store!" Napalm declared. "I'm goin' in there and I'm gettin' that badge! Even if I have to tear it from that freakin' leader's hands!"

* * *

><p>"Gloom, use Petal Blizzard once more!" Erika commanded.<p>

"Magnet Bomb!" Bolt ordered.

Gloom rose into the air again and another storm of petals picked up, bombarding Magnezone from all sides. Magnezone withstood the attack fired another ball of blue light from its magnet. Gloom was struck in the face by the attack and knocked to the ground, causing the storm of petals to cease. The flower Pokemon tried to get to its feet but quickly fell unconscious.

"Gloom is unable to battle!" the referee declared. "Victory goes to Bolt and Magnezone!"

After the two trainers called back their respective Pokemon, Erika walked up to Bolt. "You really are quite a good trainer. You've earned this Rainbow Badge."

"Thanks." Bolt replied as he took the badge Erika handed her.

Suddenly there was a scream and everyone looked as the bluenette guarding the door was thrown through the door of the indoor field. Napalm walked in and planted his foot on the young woman's back.

Napalm looked around the field and instantly noticed Erika. "You're that bitch who was running that damn perfume place. I get it. You must be the gym leader here."

"Get lost, dude." Bolt warned as he stepped up.

"So, one of the punks who got me thrown out of that damn place is here too." Napalm smirked. "Looks like things are finally startin' to go my way in this damn city."

"Ms. Erika… run." The bluenette pinned to the ground spoke.

"Shut your damn mouth!" Napalm ordered before kicking the girl in the back of the head.

"Hey!" Bolt protested. "That's no way to treat a lady!"

"Get lost!" Napalm told him as he threw a pokeball. "Go Electrode!"

Bursting out of the ball was an even larger ball that was white on the top and red on the bottom. It had a face with two prominent eyes and a large grinning mouth filled with teeth.

"Self Destruct!" Napalm ordered.

Electrode glowed with a white light and suddenly exploded. The shockwave from the blast knocked Bolt to the ground and knocked the sunglasses off his face. Candice ran over to Bolt's side and found that he was out cold but still breathing. Napalm meanwhile called back the now unconscious Electrode back to its ball and walked towards Erika.

"If… if you're here for a gym battle, I'm afraid you'll have to come back another time." A frightened Erika told him. "Right now my Pokemon are in no shape to fight."

"Oh I get it. You just lost a battle to that punk, right?" Napalm deduced. "Well too freakin' bad!"

He punched Erika in the face, knocking her to the ground while the other people and Pokemon in the gym looked on in fear. As Erika tried to get back up, Napalm pulled her up by the hair.

"Listen up, you bitch! I've gone to too much trouble getting to this freakin' city and I'm not leaving empty handed!" Napalm told her. "So I'm gonna take one of your damn badges myself! But first I'm gonna have a little fun!" The wicked trainer then dropped her and threw out another pokeball. "Go Weezing!"

The floating two-faced gas creature burst out of the ball. Already a few of the weaker Grass Pokemon had begun to run away.

"I've got somethin' to say!" Napalm announced. "It's better to burn out than fade away! Weezing! Burn this place to the ground! Flamethrower!"

Weezing opened its larger mouth and belched out a stream of green flames, rotating around to spread fire all over. People and Pokemon alike tried to flee as the field of grass and trees caught on fire. All the while Napalm was laughing like a maniac.

"By the time I'm done, this gyms gonna be nothin' but ash!" Napalm declared. "And when that happens, the fun really begins!"

**Author's Note:** One of the things that stuck out to me the most about the anime episode where Ash battled Erika was that it seemed like Erika took her perfume way too seriously. So in this chapter I decided to show what might happened if her banning someone from the gym for not liking perfume ticked off the wrong person. Specifically the type of person who has the kind of anger management issues that would land them on shows like _America's Most Wanted._ Incidentally, Napalm was quoting the main villain from the original _Highlander_ movie before he had Weezing burn the gym.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	16. The Burning Garden

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

><p>Chapter 16: The Burning Garden<p>

After the little argument in front of the perfume shop, Quinton and the rest of Bolt's gang had gone to a little café they had run across while on the way to the gym. They had all realized that they had not eaten for a while after the incident and had decided to have lunch. Everyone had managed to cool down as the lunch began, and when they were done they had decided to go find Bolt. They all knew that the most likely place the rocker from Sinnoh could be found was the gym, even though he probably had no chance of getting in there. Which still left the question of if any of them was going to be able to get into the gym at all.

"I think we should face it. We blew it at this city." Ross told them as they walked.

"We don't know that." Quinton responded. "Look, it was my big mouth that got us into this. Maybe if I could talk to Ms. Erika, I could convince her to let Bolt at least have a battle with her."

Before anyone could respond, the gang heard what sounded like an explosion coming from the direction of the gym. They ran to see what had happened and found that the gym was on fire. Most of the trainers and guests at the gym had already evacuated with the Grass Pokemon and were outside watching in horror as the building burned. The Celadon Fire Department was already on the scene.

"What the hell happened?" a stunned Ross wondered.

Quinton looked around for signs of Bolt and found nothing. So instead he went over to a couple of the female trainers from the gym and went over to them.

"Hey! What happened here?" Quinton asked the two ladies.

"This freak forced his way into the gym and just set the place on fire!" one of the trainers explained. "The word is he was this sketchy guy who was at the perfume shop earlier today."

"Wait, was this guy like seven feet tall and have a Mohawk?" Quinton asked.

"Yeah, that's the creep." The second of the trainers confirmed. "He's still in there with Ms. Erika and this trainer who managed to flirt his way in to challenger her!"

"Oh damn!" Quinton cursed, realizing what was going on. He ran back over to Ross and the others. "Bolt's inside the gym with Erika!"

"Oh no!" a horrified Lorain exclaimed.

"It gets worse. Ross, you know that freaky-looking guy we saw in the shop today? He's the guy who set fire to this place!" Quinton continued. "I think he's holding Bolt and Erika hostage in there or something."

"Dammit, I knew there was something bad about that guy!" Ross exclaimed. "He just had a look in his eyes!"

"So what now?" Skins asked.

"Well I don't know about you guys, but I'm going in!" Quinton decided. Before anyone could stop him, the blonde ran towards the burning gym.

"Now what?" Lorain asked.

"Lorain, you go find a cop and tell them about the freak inside the gym!" Ross ordered. "Skins, let's give these firefighters a hand!"

With that, Lorain ran off to get more help. Meanwhile Ross and Skins got closer to the gym.

"Go Kabutops!" Skins called as he threw a pokeball. The prehistoric shellfish burst out of the ball.

"Go Poliwrath!" Ross called with his own throw, sending out the fighting polliwog.

"Use Hydro Pump!" Skins commanded.

"Poliwrath, you help out with Scald!" Ross ordered. "Steaming hot water is better than nothing!"

Kabutops opened his mouth and fired a powerful stream of water at the flaming building. At the same time, Poliwrath let loose a blast of steam water from his chest. Both attack hit the side of the building, but it soon became clear that it was going to take a long time to put out the blaze.

* * *

><p>With some difficulty, Quinton managed to make it inside through the ash and smoke to the burning greenhouse field. In the middle of the burning landscape he saw Napalm standing with one foot on Erika's back while his Weezing floated next to him. As he looked around, he saw Candice kneeling on the grass cradling a still unconscious Bolt. Quinton instantly went over to the unconscious rocker.<p>

"Is he okay?" Quinton asked Candice.

"Um… I think so." A frightened Candice answered. "He got knocked out when that guy had his Electrode use a Self Destruct attack."

"Why the hell haven't you gotten him out of here?" Quinton asked.

"He… he won't let us leave!" Candice explained.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't another one of the little punks from that freakin' perfume store." Napalm spoke after he spotted Quinton and began to walk up, pulling Erika along with him by the arm. "I was hopin' I'd run into the rest of you little turds."

"You are one sick piece of scum!" Quinton told the mad trainer. "What the hell are you doing all this for?"

"Because all of you and this whole damn city have been one big damn pain in the ass!" Napalm answered. "And before I leave here, I'm gonna watch you all burn!"

"Like hell!" Quinton told him. "Now let go of Erika and let us leave!"

"Hah! If you want me to do that, then you're gonna have to beat me in a battle!" Napalm told him. "I came all this way for a fight, so I might as well get one!"

"If that's what it takes, then fine!" Quinton agreed as he threw a pokeball. "Go get 'em, Porygon!" The artificial Pokemon burst out of its ball.

"Move in, Weezing!" Napalm ordered. "Use Sludge Bomb!"

Weezing floated in to face Porygon and fired a ball of purple sludge from its larger mouth. The projectile exploded when it struck the digital Pokemon in the face.

"Okay Porygon! Use Conversion2!" Quinton commanded.

After recovering from Weezing's attack, Porygon's body began to pulse with a white light and make beeping noises. When the pulses stopped, the pink parts of Porygon's bird-like body had turned silver gained a metallic shine, while the blue parts of its body had become a darker metallic grey.

"What kind of freakin' attack was that?" Napalm asked.

"One of Porygon's signature moves, Conversion2." Quinton explained. "This attack changes Porygon's type to one that's resistant to the type of the attack just used on it. So since you used a poison-type attack, Porygon just changed from a normal-type to a steel-type."

At this, Napalm burst out laughing. "You stupid-ass punk! You only just dug your own grave even deeper!"

"Say what?" Quinton exclaimed.

"Weezing! Hit that little birdie with Flamethrower!" Napalm commanded.

The floating ball of gas opened its larger mouth again and belched out a stream of flames at Porygon. The now metallic artificial Pokemon was struck in the face, and when the attack ended its body glowed red-hot for a brief moment.

"Aw dammit!" Quinton cursed.

"Why the hell do ya think they call me Napalm, ya little punk?" Napalm laughed. "Your fancy little trick just totally backfired!"

"Porygon! Use Psybeam!" Quinton commanded.

After recovering from the attack, Porygon fired two beams of multicolored light from its eyes. Weezing was struck just below the mouth of its larger body and was knocked back slightly.

"Let's just cut to the chase!" Napalm decided. "Weezing! Blow that fancy-ass Pokemon away with Explosion!"

Weezing's whole body glowed with a white light and let off a powerful explosion that struck Porygon. The resulting shockwave knocked the digital Pokemon back a few feet, but Porygon managed to stay airborne. Weezing meanwhile dropped to the ground and fell unconscious.

"Well, well. That Porygon of yours is made of some strong stuff if it managed to take an Explosion attack." Napalm remarked as he called back Weezing.

"Porygon's a steel-type right now, remember?" Quinton pointed out. "That gives it a resistance to normal-type attacks like Explosion. You should've just had Weezing use another Flamethrower attack."

"Yeah, well I've got a much better Pokemon to take care of this." Napalm told him as he produced another pokeball. "Go Emboar!"

Bursting out of the thrown ball was a large bipedal pig that stood at about five feet tall. It had an orange head with a lower jaw that had two large tusks protruding from it and from its chin burned a red flame that grew like a beard and spread over his shoulders. The midsection of its torso was black and had swirling yellow designs running along it. The pig creature's large forearms were black with three-clawed hands, and it had black legs with gold rims near the top, making it look as though it were wearing boots.

"Oh crap!" Quinton exclaimed.

"Emboar, use Heat Crash!" Napalm commanded.

Emboar leapt up into the air and suddenly became shrouded in a bright red fireball. The giant ball of flames came down and struck Porygon with enough force to make a large crater in the ground. As the smoke cleared, Emboar got off of Porygon. The artificial Pokemon had returned to its original form and was unconscious.

"This is just too easy." Napalm bragged as Quinton called back Porygon. "So now what're ya gonna do, punk?"

"What I'm gonna do is kick your ass!" Quinton declared as he threw his next ball. "Go Chrome!" The shiny Metang flew out of the ball to face Emboar. "Use Confusion!"

Chrome's eyes glowed and suddenly Emboar glowed with a blue aura and was lifted into the air by an invisible force. With a movement of Chrome's arms, the fire pig was flung back several feet hurled into a burning tree. After a moment, Emboar got back to his feet and glared at Chrome.

"Emboar, use Flare Blitz!" Napalm commanded.

After kicking up some dirt, Emboar charged at Chrome at full speed. As the fire pig barreled towards his target his body became shrouded in flames. Emboar rammed into Chrome and knocked the silver Pokemon back into the wall. After a moment, Chrome hovered back up into the air floated back over to face Chrome.

"Guess it's time to try out the new attacks." Quinton decided. "Chrome, use Hone Claws followed up with Thunder Punch!"

The golden claws on Chrome's hands began to glow with a blue light. Soon after, its right forearm began to crackle with yellow electricity. Chrome flew in close and punched Emboar in the face with its electrified arm.

"Use Thunder Punch again!" Quinton ordered.

Just as Emboar had shaken off Chrome's attack, the metal Pokemon's left arm became charged and it punched the fire pig in the other cheek. The attack caused Emboar to stumble back a bit.

"One more time!" Quinton commanded.

Chrome's right arm charged again and it punched Emboar in the jaw. The punch struck with such force than Emboar was knocked onto his back. The fire pig quickly managed to get back to his feet, however.

"You're goin' down now!" Napalm declared. "Emboar, hit that wimp again with Flare Blitz!"

Emboar geared up to charge at Chrome again, but as soon as he tried to move his left leg he suddenly winced and froze. The fire pig fell to one knee as his body gave of feint sparks. At the same time Quinton began to cough from the all the smoke being given off by the burning greenhouse, as were Erika and Candice.

"Looks like one of those Thunder Punches managed to paralyze Emboar!" Quinton observed as he coughed again. "Now how 'bout we just call off this whole thing and get the hell out of here? There's no way any of us are going to last much longer!"

"No way in hell!" Napalm told him. "Emboar! Shake it off and use Heat Crash!"

"Dodge it!" Quinton ordered.

Emboar got back on his feet and jumped into the air. His body once again became enshrouded in a red fireball similar to a blazing sun. The fire pig came crashing down towards Chrome like a meteor, but in the last second Chrome flew backwards to avoid the attack. Emboar crashed into the ground and Chrome had narrowly avoided being crushed.

"Dammit!" Napalm cursed.

"I've had more than I can stand from you!" Quinton told the mad trainer. "Chrome! End this now with Confusion!"

Just as Emboar had gotten back up, Chrome's eyes glowed and the pig of fire was flung backward by an invisible force. Emboar was hurled into Napalm, knocking Erika free from his grasp. When the attack was over, Emboar and Napalm were both knocked out.

Quinton called back Chrome and went over to Erika. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I… I think so." Erika coughed out.

Suddenly Bolt coughed and lifted his head. "Aw man! What the hell hit me?"

"Bolt! Are you okay?" Quinton asked.

"I think so." Bolt answered as he slowly got up. He quickly noticed the flaming gym around him and recalled what happened. "Oh yeah. That psycho busted his way in."

"I took care of him! Now let's get the hell out of here!" Quinton told the others. The rest of the group agreed and made their way to the door.

* * *

><p>Ross and Skins continued to help the firefighters using Poliwrath and Kabutops while Lorain waited back with Officer Jenny and a pair of officers. Suddenly Candice and Bolt emerged from the burning building with his arm slung over Candice's shoulder. Quinton came guiding Erika by the hand only moments later. Lorain ran up to the group with Officer Jenny and her two officers.<p>

"Are you guys okay?" Lorain asked them.

"I think so." Bolt answered.

"Where's the man who started this fire?" Officer Jenny asked.

"He's still inside." Quinton informed her. "The freak was too big for us to carry out."

"Alright, I'll take care of it." Officer Jenny told them. "In the meantime, you better have the paramedics check you out." With that, she and her officers went to go talk to one of the fireman.

"Thank you for your help." Erika told Quinton weakly.

"Think nothing of it." Quinton replied.

* * *

><p>The Celadon Fire Department's efforts to put out the gym fire lasted well into the evening, but the blaze was eventually put out. By some miracle, Bolt, Erika and Candice had come away from the incident relatively unharmed, though they were required to spend a night in the hospital for observation. Napalm had also been extracted from the burning building and taken into custody. That evening, most of the gang except Quinton, plus Erika all met in Bolt's hospital room.<p>

"I really am sorry about everything that happened today." Erika told them. "I feel like much of it is my fault. Maybe if I wasn't so harsh about how people like my gym's perfume, none of this would've happened."

"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself." Bolt told her. "If it wasn't this, it would've been something else that set that psycho off."

"Bolt's right. Guys like Napalm are like time bombs." Ross told her.

"Regardless, because of all this my gym has burned down for a second time." Erika sadly pointed out. "And this time the damage seems to be even worse than before. I'm not sure if we can recover."

"Fret not, my lady. In time your gym will rise up even better than before." Quinton announced as he walked into the room. "I just got done talking with my dad, and he says he'll be more than happy to help with the reconstruction."

"How is your father going to help?" Erika asked.

"Quinton's dad is the president of Silph Co. in Saffron City." Lorain revealed.

"That's right. And he says he'll provide the rebuilt gym with a state of the art security system and a fire prevention system." Quinton told Erika. "I can assure you that your gym will bounce back better than ever."

"Thank you so much." Erika told him. "I'm real sorry that I banned you from my store, and by extension the gym."

"Hey, don't worry about it." Quinton assured her. "It's all water under the bridge as far as I'm concerned."

"Well, from now I won't ban anymore trainers who don't like my perfume from the gym." Erika decided. "It's just not fair to them."

"That's good to hear." Bolt remarked. "I don't think anyone else could sneak in the same way I did."

"Your approach was quite original." Erika admitted. "The other time a trainer sneaked in to challenge me, he had to do it disguised as a girl."

"Seriously?" Bolt laughed. "Aw man! I'd sure like to know who that guy was, because it sounds like he's got way more cuts than I do."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> With such a fairly large cast of characters, I've been trying to figure out chapters where each of them can take center stage. Even though the chapters that introduced Quinton were done not that long ago, I decided that this would be a good chapter for him to take the spotlight. For one thing, it helped to set up a pairing that I may or may not do in future stories.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	17. Christine

**Author's Note:** Before we get into this next chapter, I think I should make a little announcement first. Tomorrow I begin taking some new online classes, which means updates to this story will be slowing down a little. I'm not really sure yet what the combined workload is going to be like for both classes, but hopefully I should be able to update at least three or four times a week. Though this week I probably won't be able to get the next chapter done until maybe Friday. Just wanted to let everyone know that.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

><p>Chapter 17: Christine<p>

It was midmorning as Bolt hung around outside the Celadon City Pokemon Center with Lorain, Skins and Ross. Quinton had gone off to do a little shopping around town. At that moment, Bolt was strumming his guitar as a way to pass the time. Lorain had her nose buried in a map of the Kanto Region trying to find the best route to their next destination. Ross and Skins meanwhile were having a training battle using Tyrogue and Tyrunt.

"Okay, so the next city we'll want to go to is Fuchsia City, which is a pretty long way off from where we are now." Lorain informed the others as Ross and Skins' battle wrapped up. "I think our best bet might be to go to Lavender Town, then take routes twelve through fifteen all the way there."

"Won't we have to backtrack through Saffron City to get to Lavender Town?" Ross asked.

"Not necessarily." Lorain answered. "There's an old underground tunnel just outside this city, just like the one we used to get from Cerulean to Vermillion. Only this tunnel should get us to the area just outside of Lavender Town."

"Sounds like a good plan to me." Bolt decided. "Guess we could head out this afternoon."

"Assuming that Quinton ever gets done with his shopping." Ross pointed out. "What the heck did he go to find anyway?"

"He said he was gonna go look for this place he heard about that sells hard to find evolution items." Bolt answered. "He said he wouldn't be gone too long though."

"Well, I see all of you are still traveling together." A familiar voice interrupted. Bolt and the others looked and saw Christine standing before them with Clefairy.

"Uh, Christine! Hi." Bolt greeted as he quickly got to his feet, his cheeks turning slightly red. "What, um… what brings you to Celadon?"

"I'm here with my father to attend a party." Christine explained. "Actually there are other things I'd rather be doing, but I sort of don't have a choice."

"Well that's a drag." Bolt replied. "Uh, you know… maybe you could talk your dad into letting you come along with us. We'd love to have ya."

"I think I'd like that, actually." Christine admitted. "But… I don't think that's going to happen. My father is kind of strict."

"I'm back, guys!" Quinton announced as walked up with a shopping bag in his hand. "Sorry I took so long. I… oh! Hi Christine."

"Quinton! Hello." An equally surprised Christine replied. "I sure wasn't expecting to see you here."

"Uh, Quinton? How do you know Christine?" Bolt asked.

"Well, our families kinda travel in the same social circles." Quinton explained. "We've run into each other a few times at parties and stuff like that."

"So Quinton, are you traveling with Bolt and his friends?" Christine asked.

"Yeah, it's kind of a long story." Quinton replied. "There was this mess that happened while I was at Silph Corporate HQ, and Bolt and I ended up working together to stop it."

"There you are, Christine." A voice interrupted. "I was wondering where you had run off to."

Walking up to the group was an old man with black hair that had bands of grey on the sides and a pencil-thin black mustache. His outfit consisted of a dark-green suite with a red tie.

"Uh, Quinton. You remember my father, Derik Wyler, don't you?" Christine asked.

"Yeah, sure." Quinton replied. "Nice to see you again, sir."

"Quinton Mercury. So, I guess seeing you here means your father finally let you go on that training journey you've been wanting to go on." Derik observed.

"That he did, sir." Quinton confirmed.

"Well good for you. A trip like this is just what a young man like you needs." Derik praised. He then noticed Bolt and the others. "I take it these people here are friends of yours?"

"Yeah, they're sort of my traveling buddies." Quinton confirmed.

"Well, if you're not leaving Celadon right away, you should come to the party being held in my honor tonight." Derik suggested. "You don't have to stay long. You can even bring these friends of yours with. How 'bout it?"

"Uh, well…" Quinton began.

"We'd love to come, Mr. Wyler." Bolt told him.

"Marvelous!" Derik replied. "The party's tonight on the roof of the Floral Heights Hotel at 7:00. I look forward to seeing you there. Come along, Christine."

With that, Derik began to walk off. Christine looked at Bolt with a slightly worried expression before following after him with Clefairy.

"Well guys, looks like we're staying in Celadon for a little longer." Bolt told the others. "I'm gonna go and see if I can't get some of my old wardrobe from my house in Sinnoh. I think I got an outfit for a party like this." With that, Bolt went into the Pokemon Center to use the P.C.

"I don't know about you, Quinton. But you and Bolt can leave me out of this party." Ross told him. "The last thing I want to do is spend the night with a bunch of rich snobs."

"Same here." Skins agreed.

"I guess I wouldn't mind going." Lorain decided. "It might be interesting."

"Uh, guys? When Bolt and I first met, he mentioned something to me about having a thing for a girl who might've already had a boyfriend." Quinton revealed. "The girl he was talking about wouldn't happen to be Christine Wyler, would it?"

"That's the girl." Ross confirmed.

"Yep. I know Bolt comes on to just about every cute girl he sees, but with Christine it's different." Lorain replied. "He seems to get all nervous or something."

"Oh great! Then this might just turn into one big mess." Quinton told them.

"What the heck are you talking about, rich boy?" Ross asked.

"Well Christine… she's already sort of involved with another guy." Quinton revealed. "In fact from what Bolt told me, I'm guessing you've already all met him. His name's Richter Chase."

"Seriously?" a stunned Lorain exclaimed.

"Guess that explains why he went after Bolt back in Vermillion." Ross realized. "But she's actually the girlfriend of that son of a bitch?"

"Well, as far as the public knows, yeah." Quinton confirmed. "But from what I've been able to guess from all the times I've seen them together, the relationship isn't mutual."

"What do you mean?" Lorain asked.

"I mean that Christine can't stand Richter's guts." Quinton answered. "At least that's what it's always seemed like to me. Can't blame her since the guy really is what you just called him, Ross."

"Well if that's true, I don't really see the problem." Lorain told him.

"Yeah, I mean if Bolt and Lorain end up wanting to get together, then that's their business." Ross agreed. "That bastard, Richter is just gonna have to deal with it."

"It's not that simple, guys." Quinton told them. "For one thing we're dealing with high society, which can get pretty messed up. I'm sure if Christine is going out with Richter, it's because it's her father's idea. Derik Wyler is known as the kind of guy who likes to get his way in everything, at least that's how my dad tells it. Then of course there's the whole other problem with Richter that may add a certain amount of danger."

"What do you mean by that?" Lorain asked.

Sighing, Quinton went over to a bench and sat down. "Richter and his whole family are… connected."

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Ross asked.

"I mean his family's in bed with organized crime!" Quinton told them. "And by organized crime, I mean groups like Team Rocket and probably a few other smaller criminal enterprises. That's the rumor, anyway. Nobody's been able to prove it. On the surface though, the whole Chase family is pretty clean cut."

"So let me get this straight… you're saying that Bolt has his eye on the girlfriend of a future crime lord?" Ross asked.

"Pretty much." Quinton confirmed. "Don't get me wrong though, guys. I have no problem at all with Bolt and Christine getting together. I'm just saying that if it happens, they're playing with fire."

"Oh man!" Ross exclaimed. "This is just nuts."

"So… do we tell Bolt about this?" Lorain asked.

"We probably should." Quinton replied. "Of course we're probably gonna have to figure out the right way to break it to him."

"Probably won't even believe us." Skins assumed.

"We're probably not going to be able to talk him out of going to that party either." Quinton noted. "This is gonna be one interesting night."

* * *

><p>Evening soon fell upon the city, and by the time the party was about to start Bolt arrived at the Floral Heights Hotel with Quinton and Lorain. Ross and Skins had instead decided to go check out the Celadon Game Corner that they had heard about while staying in the city. Bolt and his two companions were well dressed for the occasion. Bolt was wearing a black suit with a yellow tie that he had gotten from home. Lorain meanwhile had on a simple green dress she had found while shopping in the city and Quinton was wearing a white suit with a powder-blue tie. After a quick elevator ride up, Bolt and the others arrived at the penthouse level of the building.<p>

Upon the trio's arrival, they were promptly directed to the large rooftop area where the party was happening. When they got out there, they found the place filled with people who were obviously of the upper crust. Bolt quickly searched the crowd for Christine and found her with her father.

"Well guys, here's my big chance to make points with Christine's dad." Bolt told his companions. "Wish me luck."

"Uh, y'know Bolt, I think Lorain and I will just tag along." Quinton told him.

"Yeah, I mean you might need a little help." Lorain added. "You didn't exactly win over Christine's mom back on Mt. Moon, you know."

"What the heck's with you guys?" Bolt asked them. "You've been acting kinda weird all day."

"Ah! There you are, Quinton." A familiar voice spoke. The group saw Derik walking over with Christine. "I see you even brought your friends, though two of them seem to be missing."

"Parties like this aren't really their thing, Mr. Wyler." Quinton replied.

"That's understandable." A familiar voice cut in. "The fact is that most people don't have the kind of taste that people like us do." Everyone looked and saw Richter approaching them.

"Glad you could make it, Richter." Derik told him. "I'm sure my daughter is happy you could come, aren't you Christine?"

"Uh, yes. Good to see you again, Richter." Christine replied with an insincere smile.

"Quinton, I'm sure you remember Richter Chase, my daughter's boyfriend." Derik spoke. The moment he said that Richter was Christine's boyfriend, he felt like a knife had been stuck in his heart. "You'll finally be delighted to know that a date's finally been set."

"A date for what?" Lorain asked.

"Why a date for Christine and Richter's wedding of course." Derik revealed, driving the blade in Bolt's heart even deeper. "I know it's still a long way off, of course. But the sooner these things are set, the better. Anyway, Quinton, perhaps you should introduce us all to your friends."

"Well, the girl with me is Lorain Verdant." Quinton replied. "And my other friend here is…"

"Bolt, Bolt Hanson." The blonde rocker finished. He then turned his attention to Richter. "Nice seeing you again, Richter."

"Richter, you know this young man?" Derik asked.

"As a matter of fact, I do." Richter confirmed. "We ran into each other in Viridian City a while back."

"Well isn't that an interesting coincidence." Derik remarked. "Well, there are still a few people my daughter and I need to say hello to. Richter, I hope you don't mind me stealing my daughter from you for a little longer. Perhaps you could use this time to catch up with Quinton's friend."

"Fine with me." Richter agreed as he glared at Bolt.

"Well then, come along Christine." Derik told her. With that, he and Christine walked back into the crowd.

"Well Mercury, I sure wasn't expecting you to be friends with these two pieces of trash." Richter remarked. "But then you and your family have always been a little soft."

"Cram it, Chase." Quinton told him.

Richter ignored the comment and turned back to Bolt. "As for you, Hanson. I thought I made myself clear back in Vermillion City. Christine is off limits to you."

"You're not the boss of me, Richter." Bolt told him. "So you can just go to hell."

Richter grabbed Bolt by the tie. "You're lucky that there are other people here, Hanson. Otherwise I'd be beating you into a bloody pulp right now. So instead I'm just going to make a few things clear to you. Christine belongs to me, and no one else."

"Says who?" Bolt asked.

"Says her father, for one thing." Richter answered. "But the simple fact is this is just how things are." He then let go of Bolt's tie. "You know Hanson, I really can't blame you for falling for Christine. She is in every way the perfect girl, the kind that any man would want. But it's like I told you before. People like you will always be groveling at my feet, wishing for the things I have and never getting them. Christine is just one of those things. You'll just have to accept that." With that, Richter turned and began to walk off.

"Don't you think some of that's up to Christine?" Bolt pointed out.

"You have twenty minutes to leave this party." Richter told them as he left. "After that I'm going to have you escorted out."

"…Bolt, are you okay?" Lorain asked after a moment.

"Guys, I'm gonna need a minute alone." Bolt told them before walking off.

Within a few moments, Bolt found a deserted corner of the party by one of the railings on the roof. He went up and stood by the railing to look out at the lights of the city. His eyes fixed on one of the city streets far below and watched the tiny headlights of the cars as they zoomed by.

"Bolt?" a voice spoke. Bolt looked and saw that it was Christine.

"…Looks like you finally managed to get away from you dad, huh?" Bolt observed before turning back to the city. "Why the hell didn't you ever tell me about Richter?"

"I… it's not something I like to talk about." Christine told him.

"And here I thought you might actually be into me." Bolt responded. "Because, well… I'm actually pretty into you. You're not like any girl I ever met before."

Christine walked up to stand next to him. "I really like you too, Bolt. And… you should know that I don't have any feelings for Richter."

"But… your dad said you and he were gonna get married one day." A surprised Bolt pointed out.

"That's something he arranged." Christine bitterly explained. "My father and Richter's are old friends. It's more of a business decision than anything else."

"Even though you're not in love with that bastard?" Bolt asked.

"My father and his wife have been making those kinds of decisions for me for almost all my life." Christine told him. "And when my father decides something, there's no arguing with him."

"Wait, you said your dad and his wife. Don't you mean your mom?" Bolt asked.

"That woman you met on Mt. Moon isn't my mother." Christine revealed. "I guess you could call her my stepmother. My real mother is this lounge singer my father had a fling with years ago that ended up bringing me into the world. He found out about me when I was about three or four, but instead of trying to hide his connection to us, he took me from my mother and more or less adopted me into the family. I guess it was because I was such a valuable asset to him."

"And your real mom?" Bolt asked.

"…My father says that she's well taken care of." Christine answered. "But I haven't seen her since I was little. All I have of her is a picture and the memory of her voice. She'd always sing such beautiful songs to me when I was little."

"Man… your life sure is messed up." Bolt declared. "Look Christine, in the end it's your life. If you don't wanna be with Richter, than don't."

"It's not that simple, Bolt." Christine told him. "It's not just my father, it's Richter too. He already thinks I belong to him, and he's told me before that if I tried to leave him he'd make sure he track me down and drag me back. He's also told me that he'd destroy anyone who tried to take me from him, and I'm sure he'll do it. His family has ties to groups like Team Rocket. He's dangerous, Bolt."

"Maybe, but I'm not afraid of him." Bolt declared. "If he wants to come after me, he can try and I'll kick his ass."

"But Bolt…" Christine began.

"Look, Christine. I'd really like it if you came with me and my friends." Bolt offered. "We could probably get far away from Richter and your dad. And if they make problems for us, I'll take them down."

"I… I really would like that, Bolt. But I'm just too afraid to." Christine told him. "Maybe one day I'll have the courage to just run away with you… but I can't. Not now."

"But you might later, right?" Bolt asked hopefully.

"…Yes. One day I think I will be." Christine assured him.

"Then I guess I'll just have to wait." Bolt replied before kissing her on the back of the hand. "Well, I think I should be going now. Richter threatened to throw me and my friends out of the building soon."

"Then I guess I'll see you later." Christine told him.

With that, Bolt left Christine and quickly went and found Quinton and Lorain. The three of them quickly exited the party and got to the elevator. There was silence for several moments as the elevator headed for the ground floor.

"…You okay man?" Quinton finally asked after a few moments.

"Yeah, I think I'm good." Bolt answered. "…You knew about this thing with Christine and Richter this whole time, didn't you?"

"Yeah. I also told the others." Quinton admitted.

"We've been trying all day to figure out the best way to tell you." Lorain added. "You sure you're okay Bolt?"

"I'm cool." Bolt assured her. "And I think Christine and I still have a shot. Maybe not now, but one day."

"Whatever happens man, I'll be behind you all the way." Quinton told Bolt. "But I think you might be getting yourself into a pretty dangerous game."

"Maybe, but I'm willing to take the risk." Bolt declared. "I really think that Christine might be the one."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> One of the big inspirations for this story comes from a little movie from the 1980s called _Against All Odds_. In fact Christine's last name was borrowed from one of the main characters of that film. Of course by saying that now I think I may have said to much about where this story is going, but I thought I should mention it now anyway.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	18. Rumble in the Underground

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

><p>Chapter 18: Rumble in the Underground<p>

It was only a little past dawn as Bolt and his band of friends left Celadon City. After what had happened at the party with Christine and Richter, Bolt had wanted to get back out onto the road as soon as possible. He felt traveling was the best way for him to take his mind off the whole thing. In only a few minutes, the gang reached an old small concrete structure just outside the city limits. The gate into the structure was slightly broken and the bottom of the walls was covered in moss. It was this structure that led to the underground passage that would take them to Lavender Town.

"Are we sure we don't just want to go back through Saffron to get to Lavender Town?" Lorain asked. "I mean for one thing, we could pay Sabrina a visit."

"Not to mention my dad." Quinton added.

"If it's all the same to you guys, I'd rather be out on the road right now." Bolt told them. "I'm kinda tired of just staying in one place like we have been."

"What's the matter you two? Scared of going down there?" Ross asked them.

"Well… it's just that the entryway to this underground pass looks a little more… beat-up than the one we took from Cerulean to Vermillion." Lorain pointed out.

"Yeah, it seems like this passage has fallen into disrepair." Quinton observed. "Are we sure this passage is safe?"

"One way to find out." Skins pointed out.

"Skins is right. Nothing ventured, nothing gained." Bolt agreed. "Now let's get going."

"Hey! I wouldn't go down there if I were you guys." A voice interrupted. Bolt and the others looked and saw a boy who looked to be about eight or nine with greenish-brown hair wearing a yellow shirt with tan shorts.

"Who're you, kid?" Ross asked.

"My name's Kevin, and you should know that tunnel isn't safe." The boy answered.

"I knew it." Lorain replied. "There's some kind of structural damage, isn't there?"

"What kind of damage?" Kevin asked with a raised eyebrow.

"She means that the tunnel could cave in or something." Quinton explained.

"Oh. Nah, the tunnel itself is as solid as a rock." Kevin told them. "The reason it's dangerous is because this gang of trainers has been hanging out in there attacking anyone who comes through."

"Sounds like that gang Bolt and I had to take down back in Viridian Forest." Lorain observed.

"Do these guys make people pay a toll or something to pass through?" Bolt asked, recalling the gang he and Lorain had faced.

"Nope. They just don't like anyone coming down there at all." Kevin answered. "A couple of times some trainers have gone down there to try and chase them away, but these guys are just too tough. And the cops are too busy to do anything about them."

"How long has this been going on?" Quinton asked.

"About a couple of months." Kevin answered. "It kinda blows because I used to use this tunnel all the time to see my friends in Lavender Town. Now I see them hardly at all because my mom won't let me go through Saffron on my own. Maybe when I finally become a Pokemon Trainer I can, but not now."

"This gang sounds like a real piece of work." Bolt observed.

"Can you tell us anything more about these guys?" Quinton asked Kevin. "Like their names or anything?"

"Well, guy in charge calls himself Digger." Kevin answered. "He and his buddies are about as old as you guys are, I think."

"Wait, Digger?" Ross repeated. "Does this guy wear one of those old mining helmets with the light on the front?"

"Yeah. That's him." Kevin answered. "Wait, how did you know?"

"You know this guy, Ross?" Bolt asked.

"I'm pretty sure I do." Ross confirmed. "If Kevin here is talking about who I think he is, the loser we're dealing with is called Digger Cole. A few years ago, he and his thugs used to hang around outside of Vermillion by the old Diglett Cave. Now and then they'd come into the city and tear things up. One time they messed with my mom and my little sister, and with me that was the final straw."

"So you went over and kicked this Digger's ass, right?" Bolt grinned.

"Damn straight!" Ross confirmed. "Course it took me a little time. Back then my Poliwrath was just a little Poliwag. But after I got him to evolve into a Poliwhirl and captured the Mankey that would end up evolving into my Primeape, I went to Digger's hideout and taught him as lesson."

"And in doing so, you chased Digger and his gang outta town." Quinton assumed.

"Well… actually, the cops did that." Ross admitted. "It was like the day after I fought Digger. But I taught that bastard never to go after the Jones family again, that's for sure."

"So I'm guessing that Digger and his gang went on the road for a while before finally choosing this underground pass as a hideout." Quinton deduced.

"Then it's time to kick them out!" Ross decided, and turned back to Kevin. "Don't worry, kid. We'll make that tunnel safe to go through again."

"You guys really think you can take on that gang?" Kevin asked.

"Trust us, we can take these guys down." Bolt assured him. "Now let's get going!"

With that, Bolt and the others left Kevin and went into the small gatehouse. In moments they had entered a long dark passageway that seemed to go on quite a ways. The floor was covered in dirt and dead leafs, and the ceiling above with strung with old and broken florescent lights. One both sides the walls were decorated with spray-painted graffiti. In the distance they could see a small spot of orange light.

"This underground pass sure isn't in as good a shape as the one we took to Vermillion." Lorain remarked as they walked.

"Let's keep quiet, you guys." Ross told them. "I don't want Digger and his goon squad to know we're coming."

After a few more moments they finally reached the spot of light they saw and found that it was a flaming barrel. Six people were gathered around the barrel, four young men and two women. All of them appeared close to the age of Bolt and most of his gang, and looked like the kind of young people who always seemed up to no good. Each member of this gang wore a brown leather vest and had lines of black greasepaint under their eyes. The hooligans quickly noticed the gang and began to advance on them.

"Hey there." Bolt greeted. "Don't mind us. We're just passin' through to get to Lavender Town."

"Yeah? Well you can all just pass through somewhere else!" one of the male thugs told them. "This is our turf, so get lost!"

At this, Ross calmly stepped forward. "Let's just cut the crap. We heard that Digger Cole is your boss, so how 'bout you let us see him?"

"Well, well, well." A voice spoke from a little further in. "If it isn't Ross Jones from Vermillion City. I was kinda hoping I'd bump into you again one day."

Walking into the light from the barrel was a fairly young man with tan skin and slightly long unkempt dark hair that peaked out from beneath a yellow helmet with a light on the front. He had lines of black greasepaint beneath his green eyes. The rest out his outfit consisted of a brown leather vest over a dirty white sleeveless shirt, along with black dust-covered jeans and a pair of fingerless brown gloves.

"Hey Digger." Ross greeted. "Looks like you haven't changed much. You're still the same piece of garbage you were back in Vermillion."

"And you're still the same punk." Digger replied. "So what brings you down here to my little hangout? Come for a rematch?"

"If it were up to me, I'd rather we never saw each other again." Ross answered. "But my friends and I are just trying to take the shortcut to Lavender Town, and I don't like the way you and your gang have been causing trouble down here."

"Please, gang is such a strong word." Digger told him. "We're more of a social club, one that likes underground places. And since nobody has really given a Rattata's ass about this tunnel, we decided to make it our own personal establishment."

"Yeah, well the last time I checked this was a public place." Ross told him. "So why don't you and your little 'social club' just scram?"

"And what'll you do if we don't?" Digger asked.

"Then my friends and I are gonna kick your ass!" Ross declared. "And trust me, you don't want that."

"You seem pretty confident." Digger noted. "Maybe you let that lucky victory you got against me back in Vermillion go to your head."

"Please, we've taken on the likes of Team Rocket." Quinton chimed in. "A bunch of street punks like you should be no problem."

"You might as well just save yourselves some trouble and just walk away." Bolt told Digger and his gang. "Otherwise things might get pretty ugly."

"Get real! There's seven of us and only five of you!" one of the female gang members pointed out. "We can take you on no problem!"

Suddenly Digger raised his hand to silence his gang. "Okay Ross, how 'bout we do this? Let's have a rematch, just you and me. If you win, my friends and I will leave. But if we win, you and your little friends have to leave."

"That's fine with me." Ross agreed.

"Then it's payback time!" Digger declared as he threw a pokeball. "Go Dugtrio!"

A ball of white light shot out of Digger's thrown pokeball and burrowed into the floor of the tunnel. Rising out of the hole on seconds later were three brown heads that resembled that of a mole from a whack-a-mole game. Each head had a large pinkish-red nose and two beady black eyes.

"Go Poliwrath!" Ross called with his own throw. The fighting polliwog burst out of the thrown ball.

"So you got that Poliwhirl of yours to evolve." Digger observed. "It's not gonna make a lick of difference though. Dugtrio, use Mud Bomb!"

"Ice Punch!" Ross commanded.

Before Poliwrath could make a move, Dugtrio's heads suddenly ducked into its hole. Soon after, a large ball of mud shot out of the hole like a cannonball and hit Poliwrath in the chest. Poliwrath recovered from the attack and charged at Dugtrio as soon as its three heads emerged from the hole. The polliwog Pokemon swung his mist-covered fist at Dugtrio, but the three-headed mole quickly ducked out of the way.

"That Dugtrio is fast!" Lorain observed from the sidelines.

"As a species, Dugtrio are known for their speed." Quinton remarked. "Poliwrath may have the type advantage in this battle, but it's worthless if Dugtrio is too fast for him to land any blows."

"Okay Dugtrio, use Shadow Claw!" Digger commanded.

Dugtrio ducked underground again out of Poliwrath's sight. After a moment three shadowy black claw with a purple aura burst out of the ground from behind Poliwrath and slashed him in the back. When the attack ended, Dugtrio burst out of a new hole behind Poliwrath.

"Poliwrath, use Scald!" Ross ordered.

After recovering from being slashed, Poliwrath turned around and sprayed a blast of steaming hot water from his chest. Dugtrio quickly ducked into its hole and avoided the attack.

"This is kinda sad, Jones." Digger taunted. "I was expecting you to be at least a little bit of a challenge after all this time. But then again, it was just luck that allowed you to beat me in out last battle."

"This is not looking good at all." Quinton declared. "If this keeps up, Ross and Poliwrath have had it."

"Relax, guys. Ross has got this." Bolt assured them. "That Dugtrio may be pretty slick, but it can't keep dodging forever."

"I think it's about time we wrap this up." Digger decided. "Dugtrio! Hit Poliwrath with Dig!"

"Mind Reader!" Ross commanded.

Dugtrio ducked underground, and at the same time Poliwrath's eyes began to glow. Several seconds past and suddenly Poliwrath jumped forward. A split second later, Dugtrio burst out from the spot where the fighting polliwog had been standing.

"Now! Ice Punch!" Ross ordered.

Poliwrath turned around in the air and swung a mist-covered fist at Dugtrio. The attack struck the three-headed mole on the nose of its center head. In a flash, Dugtrio was completely frozen in ice.

"Looks like Poliwrath actually broke a sweat in that battle." Ross remarked as Digger called back Dugtrio. "Still, I think we both know how this is gonna end."

"I wouldn't be getting cocky if I were you!" Digger told him as he threw another pokeball. "Go Sandslash!"

Bursting out of the ball was a mainly yellow creature that looked like a cross between a rodent and a reptile. It stood on its hind legs at about three feet tall and had large black eyes. Its underside was white and its hands and feet had long white claws. Its back was completely covered in large brown spikes.

"Use Slash!" Digger commanded.

Sandslash quickly charged forward, and in a split second slashed Poliwrath in the side with its claws. Poliwrath collapsed to the ground after a brief moment and was out cold.

"Not going exactly as you thought it would, huh Jones?" Digger asked as Ross called back Poliwrath. "Now that Poliwrath's down, you've lost the best weapon you've got against me."

"I've still got plenty of tricks up my sleeve!" Ross declared as he threw out his next ball. "Go Tyrogue!"

The young purple fighter burst out of the ball to face Sandslash. Around Tyrogue's waist was a thick orange belt. Ross went over and kneeled down to press a button on the back of the belt. The back of the belt split open and the belt dropped to the ground with a clunk. Ross picked the belt up and tossed it to Lorain.

"Thanks for letting me borrow that, kid." Ross told her.

"No problem." Lorain replied.

"Isn't that one of your special training weights used to beef up your Pokemon's stats?" Bolt asked.

"Yep. This is a Power Belt used for raising a Pokemon's defense." Lorain confirmed. "Ross asked to borrow it for a while to train Tyrogue. I didn't have a problem with that of course, but he never explained why he wanted to borrow it."

"I get it. Tyrogue's evolution is influenced by his stats." Quinton explained. "If Ross has been trying to raise Tyrogue's defense stats, I think I know what evolution he's going for."

"You really think you can take me down with that little wimp of a Pokemon?" Digger smugly asked.

"We're about to find out." Ross answered.

"Okay then. Sandslash, use Shadow Claw!" Digger commanded.

"Bullet Punch!" Ross ordered.

In a flash, Tyrogue leapt forward and punched Sandslash in the snout with a glowing white fist, causing the spiked creature to stagger back a bit. Sandslash recovered from the attack and raised it right claws forward. The white claws became covered in a shadowy black energy, which seemed to grow in size. Sandslash swung the claws at Tyrogue, but the young fighter managed to sidestep the attack. Suddenly Tyrogue's body glowed with a white light and began to change shape.

The light faded after a few moments to reveal Tyrogue in a new form. The humanoid had grown to around five feet and had turned a light brown. The top of his head had five flat-tipped spikes, and his shoulders had gained large shoulder-pads. He now had on a purplish tunic and kilt and purple shoes, and his hands had become covered in red boxing gloves.

"Tyrogue just evolved into a Hitmonchan!" Lorain observed.

"Now what was that you were just saying about my Pokemon being a wimp?" Ross asked Digger.

"As if an evolution is gonna make any difference!" Digger scoffed. "Sandslash, use Dig!"

"Vacuum Wave!" Ross commanded.

Hitmonchan quickly began to swing his arm around like a windmill. As he swung his arm, a twister of wind formed around it. Hitmonchan moved his arm and sent the small twister at Sandslash. Sandslash was hit in the chest by the attack, but quickly recovered and burrowed underground. After a few moments, Sandslash leapt out of the ground behind Hitmonchan and slashed the boxing Pokemon in the back.

"You've put up a pretty good fight, Jones." Digger admitted. "But you're never gonna win this battle! You and your buddies are on my turf now! I'm like a king down here in this tunnel!"

"Please, you're nothing but a stupid bully!" Ross told him. "Just like you were back in Vermillion! You may think you're tough, but only a lowlife wimp would pick on little kids and sick people!"

"So you're still mad about what my guys and I did to your mom and sister." Digger realized. "If they had stayed off our turf back then, there wouldn't have been any problem."

"You know… I actually moved past what happened with us back then after you and your gang left town." Ross admitted. "But seeing you again after all this time makes me remember just how much you tick me off! And there's no way in hell I'm gonna lose to you!"

Suddenly Hitmonchan's right fist became covered in an icy mist. The boxing Pokemon recovered from Sandslash's last attack and then turned around to punch the spiked Pokemon in the face. Sandslash became covered in ice upon being and was flung back at least a foot. The ice broke at soon as the spike-covered creature hit the ground, and Sandslash was unconscious.

"Pretty good timing for Hitmonchan to learn Ice Punch like that." Bolt noted.

"There! I won!" Ross declared as Digger called back Sandslash. "Now go and take your thugs with you!"

"As if!" Digger shot back. "You may have gotten another lucky shot at me, but this tunnel is our turf! If you want us to leave, then you're gonna have to drag us out!"

"Let's rock, Rakou!" Bolt called as he threw a pokeball.

Raikou burst out of Bolt's thrown ball with a roar. Digger and the rest of his gang were instantly stunned upon seeing the legendary tiger of thunder.

"I'm guessing all of you guys use ground-type Pokemon of some kind." Bolt assumed. "But do you really think the Pokemon you have can take on Raikou?"

"Well Digger?" Ross asked.

"…Fine!" Digger grudgingly agreed. "Let's go! We'll find another place to make our turf! But you better stay above ground, Jones! Otherwise the next time you come into my turf, you're gonna wish you were never born!"

With that, Digger and his gang began to leave. As soon as they were out of sight, Bolt and Ross called back their Pokemon.

"Guess this underground pass is now safe again." Lorain assumed.

"For now, anyway." Quinton replied. "But Digger and his gang could come back, or some new gang could come here and take over."

"You're probably right about that." Ross agreed. "But that's a problem that's just a little too big for us. I mean we can't stay down here all the time protecting this tunnel from dirt bags."

"Ross is right. For now let's just focus on getting to Lavender Town." Bolt decided. "Maybe when we get there we can talk to somebody about how this tunnel has gone downhill."

"I just hope I never run into that jerk, Digger again." Ross spoke as they began to walk.

"At least you know you can still take him if you have to." Bolt pointed out.

"That's true." Ross agreed. "But having a battle with him again would just be a pain in the ass. And that's one thing I'd like to avoid."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> This chapter ended up taking me a lot longer to write than I thought it would. I actually feel like I could've done a lot better job with it, so I'm sorry if this chapter isn't the best one I've written. Anyway, the inspiration for this chapter came from something from the Generation 2 Pokemon Games. In the Gold, Silver and Crystal Versions (and their remakes), the underground passage between Lavender Town and Celadon City is closed off due to gang wars or something like that. I've actually always wished that there would've been some kind of unlock code that would let the player go into that passage and maybe fight a bunch of trainers. They'd probably all have been bikers, but it still would've been an interesting thing to include.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	19. The Haunted Shop

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

><p>Chapter 19: The Haunted Shop<p>

It did not take long at all for Bolt and his companions to reach Lavender Town. One of the first things the gang saw when entering the town was a tall white tower that Bolt learned from Lorain was called the Tower of Memories. It was at this point Bolt learned that the sleepy little village they were now in was also a sort of mass burial site for almost all the Pokemon in Kanto, and that the town was a hotspot for Ghost Pokemon. Though whether or not this was due to the town being a mass grave, no one could be sure. As soon as Bolt and his gang arrived, they headed for the Pokemon Center to get Ross' Pokemon treated and to discuss their next move.

"We still have a pretty long way to go before we get to Fuchsia City." Lorain informed the others. "It would probably make sense to stay the night here. But then… I guess I'm not all that crazy about staying the night in a haunted town."

"Are you kidding? Who wouldn't want to spend the night in such a hotbed of paranormal and Ghost Pokemon activity?" Quinton excitedly asked. "I gotta say I'm kinda psyched about being here."

"Since when are you so into Ghost Pokemon?" Ross asked him.

"Well, it's kind of a family curiosity, actually." Quinton revealed. "About a quarter of the products that Silph Co. produces are products designed to detect and study Ghost Pokemon. The most successful of these products of course is the Silph Scope."

"Well I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I'd rather be out of this town by the afternoon." Ross admitted.

"What's the matter, Ross? Afraid of ghosts?" Bolt asked with a wry smirk.

"Hell no!" Ross answered. "I just don't like the idea of spending the night near a mass Pokemon grave. It's just kinda morbid. Hell, I don't know how the people of this town can stand it."

"What about you, Skins?" Bolt asked the drummer. "Think we should head out before the end of the day?"

"Whatever." Skins shrugged.

"Well… I guess I don't mind staying here for the night." Bolt admitted. "But if the rest of you aren't crazy about it…"

"Um, excuse me." A voice interrupted. Bolt and the others looked and saw a young woman with long blonde hair and orange eyes standing before them. "Would all of you happen to be Pokemon Trainers?"

"Why that we would, babe." Bolt answered, instantly turning on the charm. "How can we help you?"

"My name is Trudy Mills." The blonde began. "My uncle owns an electronics and appliance store here in town. We opened up just a few months ago, and at first we were doing pretty well. But then not long ago strange things started to happen. In the mornings my uncle or I would come to open the place up in the morning and find things thrown around the room. Each time we found none of the merchandise missing, and the doors were locked each time we came to open. So it's not like we're being robbed."

"And you say this is happening every morning?" Quinton asked.

"Just about." Trudy confirmed. "Also, there have been a few times when my uncle would stay late to do the books, and he could swear that some of items we sell would come to life and move around the store, like something had possessed them."

"Fascinating." Quinton remarked as he held his chin.

"Sounds kinda creepy if you ask me." Lorain declared.

"My uncle is convinced that our store's being haunted by some kind of evil spirit." Trudy continued. "But I think it's some kind of Ghost Pokemon. That's why I've been asking almost every trainer who comes through here to help by spending the night at the shop and maybe capture it or scare it off. But so far every trainer I've asked had said no. Will you help?"

"Your troubles are over, beautiful." Bolt assured her as he took her hands. "My friends and I are more than happy to help you and your uncle."

"We are?" Ross asked.

"Of course we are!" Quinton declared. "We'd be thrilled to uncover the cause of this phenomenon!"

"Okay, you are way too into this, rich boy." Ross told him.

"Thank you all so much." Trudy told them.

"Just let me call home for some special equipment and we can be off to your shop." Quinton requested before heading over to the PC.

* * *

><p>After Quinton obtained the equipment he needed, Trudy took the gang over to her uncle's store. It was a slightly larger building than Bolt and the others expected it to be. In fact the building almost could've been a mini-mall. Inside though, the shelves were stocked almost to the ceiling with pieces of electrical appliances of some kind. There were various kitchen appliances, power tools, and even lawn care items like weed whackers and lawnmowers.<p>

The store had been closed for business, mainly due to the poor health of Trudy's uncle. The strange events that had been happening at the shop had taken its toll on him, as Trudy informed the gang. After Trudy had finished giving the gang a tour of the place, she locked the gang inside the shop at Quinton's request. Hours went by, and Bolt and the others waited in the front of the store for night to fall.

"I can't believe we're doing this." Ross complained.

"That's like the tenth you've said that." Lorain told him.

"Yeah, well it's true." Ross replied. "We probably wouldn't be here if Bolt wasn't such a sucker for a pretty face."

"What can I say? I can never say no to a lady in help." Bolt shrugged.

"Okay you guys, I'm gonna give you all the equipment we'll be using for tonight's hunt." Quinton told them as he reached into his bag. "The first and most important item you'll be getting is a Silph Scope."

At this, Quinton handed each of them a grey mechanical device that resembled a pair of futuristic binoculars. Bolt removed his sunglasses to look through his scope and saw that it only seemed to turn everything green.

"What the heck do these things do?" Bolt asked.

"I'm glad you asked." Quinton responded. "Many times Ghost Pokemon will often cast illusions of some kind to scare intruders and hide their true identities. The Silph Scope was designed to see through such illusions and reveal the ghost's true identity. This is a newer model I've all given you, so it should also reveal Ghost Pokemon that have simply turned invisible to avoid detection. Now then, the next item I'm going to give you all is call the Silph Scanner."

Quinton then handed each member of the gang a small black box-shaped device that looked almost like a radio of some kind. It had a small green rectangular screen and a speaker on the front, and on the back was a clip that allowed the machine to be attached to a belt.

"What do these do?" Skins asked.

"These devices are designed to detect a Ghost Pokemon's energy." Quinton explained. "If there's a ghost in the room, those devices will make a noise to let us know. I suggest you all turn them on right now. Now then, lastly I'm going to give each of you a radio in case we need to split up, and a shoulder-mounted camera so that we can record everything that happens her tonight."

"Man, you are way too into this." Ross told Quinton as he took the last two devices.

"It's almost night, so whatever has been haunting this store should be waking up pretty soon." Quinton assumed as he and the others put on their cameras and other devices.

As Bolt finished strapping on his camera, he glanced and notices a small old-looking television sitting on the counter. "This is kind of a cool little T.V."

"I think Trudy said that her uncle got that brought in from Sinnoh." Lorain recalled.

Outside the sun had begun to set, and suddenly the little television set turned on by itself to show a screen filled with static. At the same, the scanners of Bolt and the others all gave off a clicking noise like a Geiger counter. A split second later a small blue ball of light shot out of the screen of the little T.V. and ricocheted around the room like a bullet, causing the gang to freeze. After a few moments the little ball of light zoomed off to another part of the store.

"What the hell was that?" Ross asked.

"I think it's safe to say that we've found what we're looking for." Quinton assumed.

"Yeah, but where the heck did it go?" Lorain wondered.

"I think what we should do now is spread out and look for it." Quinton suggested.

"Are you nuts? I've seen movies like this, and splitting up usually isn't a good idea." Ross told them.

"Don't worry. We'll be able to use those walkie-talkies I gave you all to keep in touch." Quinton assured them. "If one of us finds the thing, we can use them to get in touch. That way we can all come and take the thing on together if we have to."

"I think it's a good a plan as any." Bolt agreed. "Let's split up and hope that whatever this thing is doesn't go near the power tool section." The others nodded, and with that they began to spread out over the store.

* * *

><p>Skins had been hanging around the lawn care section for several minutes alone. He passed the time by using his drumsticks to play a solo on the side of one of the metal-shelving units. He stopped though when he heard his scanner make a familiar clicking noise. Suddenly the tiny ball of energy from before shot into the room and hit one of the lawnmowers.<p>

Upon being struck, the mower suddenly transformed and changed from green to red and became a two-wheeled model. The device had gained a green electrical aura that formed a fork-like blade at the front. The front of the mower had gained a face with two large crazed green eyes and a large fanged grin.

"It's on!" Skins spoke as he threw a pokeball. "Go Kabutops!"

The prehistoric shellfish burst out of his ball to face the living lawnmower. Suddenly a wind picked up around the mower and a twister full of leafs formed around it. The twister came at Kabutops and knocked him to one knee as it passed.

"Crud!" Skins cursed. "Use X-Scissor!"

After recovering from the twister, Kabutops crossed his scythe blades together, causing them to glow red. Kabutops charged at the mower and slashed it in the face, leaving a red X. After being hit, the mower changed back to its original form and the energy being that had been controlling it shot out of the room.

Skins got out his radio to contact the others. "Guys, I found it."

_"That's great, Skins!"_ Quinton's voice responded. _"Did you manage to capture it?"_

"Nah, it got away." Skins answered. "Took over a lawnmower though."

_"You don't say."_ An intrigued Quinton replied.

_"Hey, I heard that."_ Ross' voice cut in. _"So this thing can take over the stuff in this store?"_

_"That is what Ms. Trudy told us earlier."_ Quinton recalled.

_"What'd I say before about the power tools?"_ Bolt chimed in.

_"Skins, you just stay where you are for now."_ Quinton requested. _"If that spirit comes back, let us know immediately. Otherwise, stand by in case one of us needs you to come to us."_

"Roger." Skins replied. After that, there was a few moments of silence and Skins went back to playing his solo on the shelves.

* * *

><p>It had been just about twenty minutes since Lorain had heard about Skins' encounter with the entity over the radio. She had already sent out Beedrill in case the creature came to the area where she was. The whole situation had made the bluenette rather uneasy. Not that she had anything against Ghost Pokemon, yet she wasn't sure if what they were dealing with wasn't a Pokemon but rather an actual malevolent spirit of some kind. Suddenly the scanner hanging from her belt went off and the tiny ball of energy from before ricocheting into the room before hitting a small portable oven.<p>

The oven suddenly transformed upon being hit. It turned red and became more streamlined, also gaining a red electrical aura and formed into a pair of arms with large hands at the sides. Near its top was a face consisting of a small grinning mouth and a pair of red crazed-looking eyes.

"Guess we've found it." Lorain observed. "Beedrill! Use Twineedle!"

The wasp Pokemon flew towards the living oven. But as soon as Beedrill moved in range, the oven's door opened and it spewed out a stream of red flames. Beedrill flew back but not without taking some damage.

"A fire attack?" a stunned Lorain responded. "Okay Beedrill! Move in again and use Poison Jab!"

The living oven breathed out another blast of flames, but Beedrill avoided the attack and went around behind. The wasp Pokemon flew in as the stinger on his abdomen began to glow with a purple light. Beedrill stung the oven in the back. A split second later the oven changed back to its original form and the entity controlling it flew out of the room.

Lorain quickly got out her radio. "Guys! Beedrill and I just had a run-in with whatever it is we're dealing with. The thing took over an oven and came after us. And it seemed like it used a Fire Pokemon attack."

_"A fire attack, huh?"_ Quinton's voice responded. _"Hey Skins, did this thing use a special kind of attack when you faced it?"_

_"Yeah. Leaf Storm, I think."_ Skins answered.

_"Interesting."_ Quinton replied.

_"Hey Quinton, you know what we're dealing with here?"_ Bolt asked.

_"Maybe, but I'm not a hundred percent sure yet."_ Quinton answered. _"Lorain. Just stay where you are, and let us know if this thing comes back your way."_

"Okay. But you and Bolt are gonna owe me big for this!" Lorain told him.

* * *

><p>It had been almost fifteen minutes since Ross had heard Lorain's report over the radio. The white-haired trainer did not like the situation one bit. It was bad enough that they were spending the night in a creepy little town, but now he was also up against some unknown Ghost Pokemon. And that was one fight where he and his Pokemon would be at a distinct disadvantage. Suddenly the scanner attached to Ross' belt began to go off. The strange entity then shot into the room and struck an electric fan on the table, causing it to transform.<p>

The fan hovered off the table and became sleeker and colored red. Around the fan had formed a yellow electrical aura that created two swirling blades at its sides. The base of the possessed fan had gained a face with two crazed yellow eyes.

"Time to end this crap!" Ross declared as he threw a pokeball. "Go Machamp!"

The muscular four-armed Pokemon burst out of his ball to face the possessed fan. The fan whirled its blades around and sent forth a large blade of air at Machamp. Machamp struck in the chest and fell to his knees, bending over to support himself with his four arms.

"Aw dammit!" Ross cursed. "Machamp! Shake it off and use Thunder Punch!"

After a moment, Machamp recovered and managed to get back to his feet. He charged at the fan as his upper right fist became charged with yellow electrical energy. Machamp punched the fan in the blades with his charged fist. Upon being hit, the fan transformed back to normal and dropped to the floor as the entity controlling it zoomed off.

Ross got out his radio. "Hey Quinton, I just saw whatever this thing is we're dealing with. This time it took over a fan. I think it used a flying-type attack of some kind considering how much damage Machamp just took."

_"Did it get away?"_ Quinton asked over the radio.

"Yeah." Ross confirmed. "I guess I'll just wait here for now."

_"Ten-four."_ Quinton replied.

"Man. This totally blows." Ross grumbled.

* * *

><p>For the last twenty or so minutes there had been no activity since Quinton had heard from Ross. Quinton had been taking notes on what they were dealing with since the first encounter, and was almost certain that he had figured out what it was. He just needed to see it with his own eyes to be sure. Suddenly his scanner went off and the energy being shot into the room and struck a washing machine in the room. The machine transformed, becoming red and gaining a blue electrical aura that created an arm to hold the water pipe attached to its back. Above its door, the machine had gained a small grinning mouth and two crazed blue eyes.<p>

"Okay then! Let's go, Porygon!" Quinton called as he threw a pokeball.

The digital Pokemon burst out of the ball the face the possessed washing machine. The machine's door opened and shot forth a powerful stream of water. Porygon was struck by the torrent but withstood the attack.

"Let's seen how you like this!" Quinton spoke. "Porygon, use Thunderbolt!"

Porygon shot a bolt of electrical energy at the living machine. The device quickly recovered after being struck and fired a ball of yellow electricity from its door. Porygon was struck in the face but managed to shake it off.

"Psybeam!" Quinton commanded.

Porygon fired two beams of multicolored light from its eyes that hit the animated washing machine in the face. After being hit, the washing machine changed back to normal and the entity controlling it zoomed out of the room.

"Okay, now I'm totally sure." Quinton declared. "I better let the others know."

* * *

><p>Bolt had been waiting calmly yet alert ever since the gang had split up for the hunt. At the beginning of this whole hunt he hadn't really been sure if there really was something that had been haunting the shop, but clearly there was something.<p>

_"Guys! I think I know what we're dealing with now!"_ Quinton spoke over the radio. _"I'm pretty positive that we're up against a Rotom."_

_"A Rotom? Are you sure?"_ Lorain's voice asked.

_"Positive! I just had my own little encounter with it."_ Quinton answered.

Before Bolt could respond, the scanner on his belt suddenly went off. Just then the energy being that had now been identified as a Rotom zoomed into the room and struck a white refrigerator. The fridge transformed and turned orange, gaining a purple electrical aura that formed two lightning bolt-shaped blades on the sides near its base. A small spike had formed on the fridge's top, and its freezer door had gained a grinning face with two crazed purple eyes.

"Guys, looks like I've found our Rotom." Bolt reported over the radio.

_"We'll be right there!"_ Quinton told him.

"Nah, just chill out." Bolt replied as he got out a pokeball. "I've got this. Let's rock, Chinchou!"

The little anglerfish burst out of his ball to face Rotom. The living fridge opened its doors and shot out a blast of snow and frost. Chinchou narrowly jumped back at the last second and avoided the attack.

"Use Confuse Ray!" Bolt commanded.

Using his feelers, Chinchou threw a multicolored ball of light at Rotom. The ball struck the possessed fridge in the face, causing it to stagger around slightly.

"Now use Electro Ball!" Bolt ordered.

Chinchou threw a ball of electrical energy at Rotom with his feelers, hitting it in the chest. The fridge suddenly transformed back to normal and Rotom emerged from it in its true form. It was very small and resembled a red lightning rod. It had large crazed-looking eyes and a small mouth. Around its body crackled a blue electrical aura that formed at its sides lightning bolt-shaped blades.

"Time for a pokeball!" Bolt decided as he threw an empty ball at the creature.

Rotom was stuck in the face by the ball and sucked inside. The pokeball dropped to the floor and jiggled on the ground for several moments. Bolt and Chinchou watched the ball intently until it finally stopped moving and made the sound that signaled its capture. With the capture complete, Chinchou smirked and a glint appeared in his eyes. At that point, the rest of the gang entered the room.

"Bolt, is everything okay?" Quinton asked.

"Everything's just fine." Bolt answered as he went over and picked up Rotom's pokeball. "I think I just took care of this store's pest problem."

* * *

><p>When morning came to Lavender Town, Trudy and her uncle returned to open up the store. Upon their arrival, Bolt and Quinton explained to the two of them just what it was that had been terrorizing their store.<p>

"Well, I guess that explains why it seemed like my products came to life." The short bald man who was Trudy's uncle spoke. "Of course I've never heard of a Rotom before."

"Not surprising, since Rotom is a rare Pokemon that's usually found in Sinnoh." Quinton replied.

"But if this Pokemon's from the Sinnoh Region, how did it end up here?" Trudy asked.

"It was hiding out in that old T.V. you got on the front counter over there." Bolt answered. "You mentioned that thing was from Sinnoh, so I guess Rotom was hiding out in that T.V. all the way here."

"Well however it got here, I'm grateful to you kids for helping my store." Trudy's uncle told them. "As thanks, I'll let you have one item from my inventory as a gift."

"In that case, can I have that fridge over there?" Bolt asked, pointing his thumb at a silver fridge in the corner.

"Uh, sure. I guess so." Trudy's uncle answered.

"What the hell are you gonna do with that?" Ross asked.

"Watch." Bolt replied as he pulled out a pokeball. "You're on, Rotom!" The little plasma Pokemon emerged from its ball. "Okay little guy. That fridge over there is all yours."

Rotom zoomed over and entered the fridge, causing it to change into the creature that Bolt had faced the night before. With its transformation finished, Bolt called Rotom back to its ball.

"Well, since we got the case of the Rotom all wrapped up, how 'bout we spend some time in this town investigating more of its haunted locations?" Quinton suggested.

"Count me out." Ross answered.

"You said it." Lorain agreed.

"I'm done too." Skins replied.

"If it's all the same to you Quinton, I'd rather get back on the road now." Bolt told him. "But I can say that I'm leaving Lavender Town with one hell of a souvenir."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> I'm sorry if this was yet another chapter that didn't quite live up to expectations. It seemed better in my head, but I guess between my head and the keyboard, something went a little off. Anyway, I wanted to do something with Lavender Town since our heroes were passing through there, but I couldn't used the whole Marowak ghost plot from the games since that was the plot of my _Dusk of the Dead_ story. So instead I decided to throw together something involving a Rotom.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	20. Enter the Ninjask

**Author's Note:** Apologies for not updating this story for like a week. I ended up having a lot of work to do for my online classes last week, plus I needed to do a total rethink of this next chapter. It seemed like what I originally had in mind would just be filler, and I didn't want to do a chapter like that after the last two.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

><p>Chapter 20: Enter the Ninjask<p>

It had taken Bolt and his companions almost two weeks, but they had finally reached Fuchsia City. The trip there from Lavender Town had been long, and on their way to the far-off city they had encountered several trainers who had wanted to battle with them. When Bolt and the gang had finally reached Fuchsia, they had decided to spend some time resting at the Pokemon Center for a while before seeking out the city's gym. Upon their arrival though, the gang had encountered a young trainer from the Hoenn Region who Lorain quickly befriended. Lorain and her new friend had gone off somewhere alone while Bolt and the others hung around the lobby. Within about five minutes, Lorain had come back alone.

"Guys! Guys!" Lorain excitedly called as she ran up to the group. "You'll never guess what my new friend Shane traded me for my Paras! Look!"

Lorain threw a pokeball, and emerging from it was a fairly small light-grey insect with four large legs, the front pair of which was light brown. It had two small green eyes and a pair of feelers on the front of its head. On the insect's back was a small underdeveloped pair of pale-green wings.

"Oh, a Nincada." Quinton identified. "Not a Pokemon one usually finds around these parts."

"But were you okay with trading that Paras of yours for it?" Bolt asked her.

"It's fine." Lorain assured him. "I know Shane will take good care of Paras, and I've always wanted a Bug Pokemon from another region."

"I can see that." Ross remarked. "Heck, that deal you made was probably the only way you could've gotten a foreign bug anyway, what with your Pokemon catching skills being what they are."

"What's that supposed to mean?" an offended Lorain asked.

"All I'm saying is that we've been traveling all over Kanto and the only Pokemon you've caught in all that time was that little Paras." Ross pointed out. "It just seems like you could've used that time to catch more bugs."

"Hey! It's not my fault that we haven't been running into a lot of Bug Pokemon during this journey!" Lorain pointed out. "Besides, I don't see you catching a whole ton of Pokemon either."

"What can I say? I haven't run into any Fighting Pokemon I wanted to catch or didn't already have." Ross responded. "Besides, didn't you live in Viridian Forest before all this? Why didn't you just catch more of the bugs living around there? I mean I'm sure the place was crawlin' with 'em."

"So what? You're saying that I can't catch Pokemon?" Lorain asked.

"Well, it just seems like even a kid like you could've caught more than just that little Paras by now." Ross replied.

"So… then you think I can't cut it as a trainer, is that it?" Lorain asked.

"Uh, well…" Ross began.

"You jerk!" Lorain shouted. With that she called back Nincada and ran out of the Pokemon Center.

"Good one, Ross." Bolr sarcastically told him.

"What hell did I do?" Ross protested.

"You basically just told Lorain that she's just some little kid who should've stayed home." Quinton explained.

"What? I didn't say that!" Ross argued.

"It sounded like it." Skins told him.

"Should we go after her?" Quinton asked.

"Nah. I think Lorain just needs some time alone." Bolt decided. "She'll be back after a while."

* * *

><p>Lorain had been running for a few minutes not really paying attention to where she was going. After a bit she was forced to stop when she ran out of breath. At last Lorain looked at where she was and found herself standing before a large old mansion with a green roof. Lorain took that moment to think about what Ross had said to her back at the Pokemon Center. She couldn't help but wonder if perhaps Ross did have a point. Lorain could've been doing a better job finding and catching new Bug Pokemon to raise, but there never seemed to be a time for her to do so.<p>

Lorain walked over to the large wall of stone surrounding the old mansion and leaned against it. As she slid to the ground though, her back pushed in one of the bricks slightly and suddenly a trapdoor opened up beneath her. Lorain found herself falling down a long dark shoot before eventually hitting a cushion of some kind at the end. After a moment the bluenette got to her feet, and after finding and putting her glasses back on she saw that she was now in a large room with wood-paneled walls and a polished wooden floor. There were many people in the room, most of them girls who were close to her age, a few of which seemed to be wearing some kind of ninja outfit.

"You're late!" a voice spoke.

Lorain turned to look, and standing to her left was a young woman with long brown hair and green eyes. She had on a sort of red ninja outfit like some of the others in the room, with a red stocking covering the lower half of her face.

"This application process isn't something you can just show up for anytime you wish." The red ninja girl told Lorain. "If you want to be a trainer at this gym, you had better take this seriously."

"Huh? But I…" Lorain began, but before she could finish the red ninja girl grabbed her hand and pulled her away.

Within moments, Lorain found herself standing in formation with all the other girls in the room who were not wearing ninja outfits. The ones who were clad in ninja attire had begun standing against the walls of the chamber. Suddenly a hidden door in the wall opened up, and walking into the room was a girl in her mid-teens with tied back purple hair. She had on a black ninja outfit, and around her neck was a long red scarf.

"Hello, to you all." The purple-haired ninja girl greeted. "I am Janine, leader of the Fuchsia City Gym. You have all come here today for the soul reason of becoming a student here at this gym in order to learn the style of fighting passed down here for ages. But to do that, all of you must earn the right to be here. My father, the previous gym leader, Koga had very high standards regarding who he allowed to train here, and my standards are just as high as his.

"Out of the twenty of you who have come here today, only five of you will be allowed a position at this gym. To decide which five, each of you will battle one of the apprentices already at this gym. The five who manage to prevail will be allowed a spot here."

"Lady Janine." The red ninja girl spoke. "With your permission, I would like to have the first battle."

"Very well, Rika." Janine agreed. "Did you have a particular opponent out of these recruits in mind?"

"Yes, my lady." Rika confirmed. "The short blue-haired girl who came here late is the opponent I choose. She needs to be taught a lesson in respect."

"Very well." Janine confirmed. She then looked at Lorain, causing her to flinch. "You! Take your position!"

"Um… okay." Lorain agreed.

The other potential trainers spread out to wait by the walls of the room. Meanwhile, Lorain and Rika took their positions to do battle. Janine stepped forward and took position on the battlefield as referee.

"This match will be a one-on-one battle!" Janine announced. "Begin!"

"Okay… go Nincada!" Lorain called as she threw a pokeball. Her new cicada nymph Pokemon emerged onto the battlefield.

"This battle won't take long at all!" Rika declared as she threw her own pokeball. "Go forth, Arbok!"

Bursting out of Rika's ball was a large purple cobra with a pattern resembling a monstrous face on the front of its hood. Lorain took a big gulp upon seeing the cobra. Nincada instantly tensed up upon seeing Arbok as well.

"Arbok, use acid!" Rika commanded.

"Dogde and use Hone Claws!" Lorain ordered.

Arbok opened its jaws and spat out a glob of acid at Nincada. The grey insect jumped to the side and managed to avoid the attack. Afterwards his claws began to glow with a blue light.

"Okay. Move in and use X-Scissor!" Lorain commanded.

Nincada launched himself forward with his hind legs and slashed Arbok in the front of its hood with glowing red front claws. The attack left a red X for a moment after striking. As soon as Nincada landed back on the ground however, Arbok quickly recovered from the cicada nymph's attack.

"Use Iron Tail!" Rika commanded.

Arbok's tail glowed with a white light and suddenly became like steel. The purple cobra swung its tail at Nincada, knocking the insect into the wall on Lorain's left. When the dust settled though, Nincada was standing back on his four legs.

"I'll give you points for staying power, but there is no way that a little girl like you can defeat me!" Rika declared. "Let me show you the power of the arts honed at this gym! Arbok, use Toxic!"

The purple cobra opened its jaws and sprayed Nincada with a purple mist. After being sprayed, Nincada seemed to suddenly become ill.

"Oh no! He's been poisoned!" Lorain quickly realized.

"That's right." Rika confirmed. "And the venom created by Toxic is no ordinary poison. It will progressively get worse the longer it ravages your Nincada's system. But I'll be kind to you and finish you off quickly. Arbok! End this with Venoshock!"

"Quick! Dodge it!" Lorain ordered.

Arbok spat out a glob of green goo at Nincada. At the last second, Nincada managed to jump to the side to avoid the attack. The spot of floor where the goo hit crackled briefly with purple electricity. Nincada meanwhile was breathing heavily.

"Why don't you just give up, little girl?" Rika asked. "Make it easy on yourself and your Pokemon. Clearly you don't have what it takes to defeat me or make it at this gym."

Rika's words made Lorain recalled what Ross had said to her earlier. In that moment she couldn't help but wonder if maybe both Ross and Rika were right. Perhaps she didn't have what it took to be a Pokemon Trainer. At the same time though, a surge of anger began to rise up within her.

"…No." Lorain finally spoke as her hands balled into fists at her sides. "Okay, maybe I haven't caught the most Pokemon or as many Pokemon as I could have. But I am a Pokemon Trainer, and there's no way I'm going to back down!"

Suddenly Nincada began to glow with a white light, surprising Lorain and Rika. The light split into two balls, one of which zoomed into Lorain's bag. Lorain heard what sounded like a pokeball signaling a completed capture from inside her bag. Meanwhile, the other light lifted into the air and transformed into a cicada-like insect with a black body and two pairs of transparent wings. Its upper pair of wings each had three small red triangles decorating its edge. The insect had red eyes and its face seemed to be covered by what looked like a golden ninja mask.

"I see. So Nincada has evolved into a Ninjask." Janine quietly observed. "Perhaps his evolution was a response to his trainer's desire to prove herself. Either way, this battle may have a very unexpected outcome."

"Ninjask, use Aerial Ace!" Lorain commanded.

"Attack with Venoshock!" Rika ordered.

Arbok spewed out another glob of green slime at Ninjask. The ninja cicada quickly flew out of the way of the attack however and slashed Arbok on the front of its hood.

"Use X-Scissor one more time!" Lorain ordered.

Ninjask came around for another pass as his prominent front legs began to glow with a red light. The ninja cicada slashed Arbok in the hood again, leaving a red X. Arbok toppled onto its back after a moment and was out like a light.

"Arbok is unable to battle!" Janine declared. "Victory goes to the challenger and her Ninjask!"

Lorain and Rika called back their respective Pokemon. After Rika silently bowed to Lorain, Janine walked up to her.

"So girl, what is your name?" Janine asked the bluenette.

"Lorain Verdant." The bluenette answered.

"Well Lorain, you have proven yourself worthy to train at this gym." Janine told her.

"Well… to tell you the truth, I was never interested in training here." Lorain admitted. "I just sort of ended up in this room by accident."

"Is that so?" Janine chuckled. "Well, regardless of how you came here, you're still worthy. Perhaps it was not an accident, but fate that brought you here. The skills taught at this gym could be of great help to you. What do you say?"

Lorain was totally unprepared for such an offer. She wondered if perhaps training at the gym would be the best way for her to go. On the other hand, there was Bolt and the others to consider. Though after her little dispute with Ross, she began to wonder if she still wanted to travel with them. Lorain had to wonder if perhaps the time had come for her to strike out on her own.

* * *

><p>It was morning as Bolt and the rest of the gang headed for the Fuchsia Gym. Lorain had not returned, which had made Bolt and the others worry. They tried to search the city for her but couldn't find a trace of her. By nightfall they had been forced to ask Officer Jenny to try and keep an eye out for her. In the meantime, Bolt decided to go ahead with him gym battle and hope that perhaps Lorain might show up there.<p>

"…You know, this is all your fault Ross." Quinton spoke as they headed for the front gate of the gym.

"Oh for crying out loud! Will you guys get off my damn back already?" Ross complained. "All I did yesterday was make one freakin' observation! I didn't think Lorain would have a complete meltdown from it!"

"Cool it, guys." Bolt calmly told them. "What's done is done. But Ross, I think you do owe Lorain an apology."

"Fine, I'll apologize to her the next time I see her." Ross assured them.

Within moments they passed through the front gate of the wall around the gym. As soon as they did though, a smoke bomb suddenly went off right in front of them. The four could hear coughing as the smoke cleared. When the smoke finally did clear, Bolt and the others saw standing before them a fairly short girl wearing a green ninja outfit. A stocking covered the lower half of her face, but her glasses and familiar blue hairstyle instantly told the gang who she was.

"Lorain, is that you?" Bolt asked.

"Indeed it is." Lorain confirmed as she coughed out the last of the smoke.

"What's with that costume?" Ross asked. "Were you at a party or something?"

Lorain cleared her throat and glared at Ross. "Ross Jones! You insulted my honor yesterday, and I cannot let that stand! That is why I now challenge you to battle!"

"Say what?" Ross responded.

"You will battle me." Lorain told him. "Otherwise I'm not going to allow the four of you to pass."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> As I've been doing this story it felt like I wasn't doing quite enough with Lorain. So this last chapter and the next one are meant to make up for that a little.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	21. Lorain

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

><p>Chapter 21: Lorain<p>

"What the heck's with you, Lorain?" Ross asked. "Did the smoke from that little bomb you threw make you loopy or something?"

"I'm serious about this, Ross." Lorain told him. "I've spent all of yesterday and most of last night training at this gym to face you."

"Guess that explains the ninja costume." Quinton observed.

"The leader of this gym even offered me the chance to become an apprentice trainer here." Lorain revealed. "She says I have a lot of talent."

"So Lorain… does this mean that you're leaving us?" Bolt asked.

"Well Ross? Are you going to take me on, or are you gonna back out?" Lorain asked, ignoring Bolt's question.

"Do you really have to ask?" Ross replied. "I never back down from a challenge! But you better be prepared, because I'm not gonna hold anything back!"

"That's fine with me." Lorain replied.

"Then let's go! Crush her, Poliwrath!" Ross called as he threw his ball. The fighting polliwog burst out to face Lorain.

"Go Ninjask!" Lorain called with her own throw. The ninja cicada flew out to confront Poliwrath.

"Ninjask? So I guess this means the Nincada that Lorain got in that trade evolved." Bolt deduced.

"Yeah, which means that Ross may just be in a whole lot of trouble." Quinton replied.

"Attack with Ice Punch!" Ross commanded.

"Use U-Turn!" Lorain ordered.

Just as Poliwrath raised his first to attack, Ninjask flew towards him at top speed as his body began to glow with a red aura. The ninja cicada rammed into Poliwrath's chest, causing him to stumble back slightly. Ninjask then turned around and changed into a red energy that went into his pokeball. In the next second, another pokeball on Lorain's belt burst open, sending out the creature that was inside. What flew out of the ball surprised Ross and the others.

Floating before Poliwrath was a brown floating husk of a cicada-like insect. The flaps on its back near the hole where the actual insect had breached gave the impression of wings, and floating above its head was something that looked like a white halo. Whatever the thing was seemed to be completely motionless.

"What… what the hell is that?" Ross asked.

"That thing's creepy." Skins declared.

"That Pokemon is a Shedinja." Quinton explained. "It's a byproduct of Nincada's evolution. When a Nincada becomes a Ninjask, it sheds its exoskeleton. It's sort of like how when a Kakuna evolves into a Beedrill, it sheds the cocoon that was its body. But the big difference here is that the shed exoskeleton takes on a life of its own and becomes a new Pokemon."

"My Shedinja is a bug and ghost-type, which means all of your Pokemon are at a huge disadvantage." Lorain told Ross.

"Yeah? Well, fighting-type moves aren't the only moves in my arsenal!" Ross replied. "Poliwrath! Use Ice Punch!"

Poliwrath raised his fist and charged at Shedinja. When he came in range, the fighting polliwog swung his mist-covered fist at the living husk. But rather than hitting Shedinja, the fist merely passed through it as though it was made of mist.

"Huh? What just happened?" a stunned Ross asked.

Lorain smirked. "Use Toxic!"

Shedinja floated around so that it was behind Poliwrath and sprayed purple liquid from its seemingly hollow eyes. Poliwrath was hit in the back by the liquid and stumbled as though he was suddenly ill.

"Son of a bitch!" Ross cursed. "Use Scald!"

Poliwrath turned around and blasted Shedinja with a stream of steaming hot water from his chest. The attack merely passed through the living husk as though it was made of air.

"What the hell is going on here?" Ross asked.

"Wonder Guard, Shedinja's signature power." Lorain answered. "The only attacks that can do any damage to Shedinja are attacks that do super effective damage to bug and ghost-types. I know each of Poliwrath's moves, and none of them can do any of that kind of damage."

"Dammit!" Ross cursed. "Poliwrath, use Mind Reader!"

"Confuse Ray!" Lorain ordered.

Before Poliwrath could make a move, Shedinja fired a multicolored ball of light from its halo that hit the polliwog in the face. Poliwrath staggered forward and tripped, falling on his chest.

"Time to end this!" Lorain decided. "Use Shadow Claw!"

Suddenly a black mass came out of the hole on Shedinja's back. It grew and became a gigantic right arm with a claws hand.

"What the hell?" a startled Bolt exclaimed.

"Dude!" an equally startled Skins responded.

"Well, Shedinja's body doesn't actually move. So I guess to use attacks like Shadow Claw, whatever entity animating it needs to form the necessary appendage itself." Quinton assumed.

Just as Poliwrath managed to get back to his feet, Shedinja's giant arm slashed him in the chest. Poliwrath fell onto his back and was out cold. The black arm receded into Shedinja's back.

"How do ya like me now?" Lorain smugly asked as Ross called back Poliwrath.

"This is far from over, kid! Go Primape!" Ross called as he threw his next ball. The pig-snouted ape burst out to face Shedinja.

"Use Toxic!" Lorain commanded.

"Fire Punch!" Ross ordered.

Shedinja sprayed Primeape with a purple liquid from its eyes. Primeape became ill, but charged towards Shedinja with a raised fist. When Primeape got in range, Primeape's fist became covered in red flames as he swung it at Shedinja. Shedinja was struck in the chest and dropped to the ground.

"Huh? One of your Pokemon knew Fire Punch?" a surprised Lorain observed.

"And Shedinja don't have a lot of stamina because they're pretty much hollow exoskeletons, so one hit from a super effective attack is enough to take them out." Quinton added.

"Guess you didn't see that coming, huh kid?" Ross noted as Lorain called back Shedinja.

"You're right. I should've anticipated that at least one of your Pokemon might know Fire Punch." Lorain admitted. "That was careless on my part."

"You know now would be a good time for you to back out." Ross offered. "I wouldn't hold it against ya."

"As if! Go Ninjask!" Lorain called as she threw the ninja cicada's pokeball, sending him out again. "Use Hone Claws and Aerial Ace!"

"Use Fire Punch again!" Ross commanded.

Ninjask's front legs glowed as he flew towards Primeape at top speed. The insect came around behind and slashed Primeape in the back. Primeape recovered from the attack and twirled around to land a flaming blow to Ninjask's back. Ninjask's left wing caught on fire, but the air moving over the wing quickly blew out the flames. Soon after, Primeape collapsed and was out cold.

"Guess the poison from Shedinja's Toxic attack finally took its toll." Quinton deduced. "The training Lorain took at this gym seems to have done wonders."

"Yeah, I'm sure she'll go pretty far here." Bolt assumed.

"You think she's staying at this gym to train?" Quinton asked.

"Of course. I don't blame her after what happened yesterday with Ross." Bolt replied. "I mean c'mon, she said she spent the night training here."

"You do have a point." Quinton agreed. "That outfit Lorain's wearing is probably the kind of uniform that the trainers here wear. That probably means she took the gym leader's offer."

"Well, I am gonna miss Lorain. But I'm glad she found a place where she can get stronger." Bolt admitted. "I'm happy for her."

"Looks like I've got you on the ropes." Lorain observed as Ross called back Primeape. "Guess I'm not as weak a trainer as you thought, huh?"

Ross sighed. "Look Lorain, I'm sorry about what I said yesterday. I guess there are some times when I forget that you're also a Pokemon Trainer, and a pretty tough one too. This little battle we're having sure proves that. Heck, if we ended up facing each other in that tournament back in Cerulean, I'm not sure how it would've gone."

"Thanks." Lorain replied. "So does this talk mean that you're gonna give up? I won't hold it against you if you do."

"As if." Ross smirked. "There's no way in hell I'd walk away from a battle like this."

"Then show me what you've got!" Lorain dared.

"You asked for it! Go Hitmonchan!" Ross called with his next throw. The boxing Pokemon burst out to face Ninjask.

"Let's go, Ninjask!" Lorain called. "Aerial Ace!"

"Bullet Punch!" Ross ordered.

Ninjask flew in for another attack, but as soon as he got in range Hitmonchan hit the insect in his golden mask with a glowing white punch. Ninjask recovered from the attack and slashed Hitmonchan in the chest, causing him to fall on one knee. After a moment though, the boxing Pokemon got back to his feet and took a fighting stance.

"Attack with X-Scissor!" Lorain ordered.

"Ice Punch!" Ross commanded.

Ninjask flew in for another strike as his front legs began to glow red. At the same time, Hitmonchan raised his fist as it became covered in an icy mist. As soon as the ninja cicada came in range, Hitmonchan punched him in the face a second time. This time Ninjask's front half become covered in ice. Ninjask dropped to the ground like a stone, and the ice covering him shattered.

"Looks like we've come to the final bout." Ross observed. "What do you say we finish this?"

"I'm game." Lorain replied as she produced her last pokeball. "Go Beedrill!" The wasp Pokemon flew out of his ball.

"Hitmonchan, use Vacuum Wave!" Ross ordered.

"Swords Dance followed by Aerial Ace!" Lorain commanded.

Hitmonchan whirled his right arm around like a windmill before sending a twister of wind at Beedrill. Beedrill was knocked around by the twister but managed to stay airborne. The wasp Pokemon twirled around and crossed his lances, causing him to glow with a blue aura. Beedrill then flew in and struck Hitmonchan in the chest with his right lance before flying back. The attack caused Hitmonchan to stagger back a few steps, but he recovered and renewed his fighting stance.

"Hitmonchan just took two flying-type attacks in a row." Quinton noted. "I'm impressed that he's still standing."

"Yeah, but I doubt he can keep this up much longer." Bolt replied. "How the next attack goes may decide the match."

"Hitmonchan! Move in and use Ice Punch!" Ross commanded.

"X-Scissor!" Lorain ordered.

Beedrill crossed his lances and they glowed with a red light. Hitmonchan raised his fist and began to charge at Beedrill. At the same time, Beedrill flew towards the boxer at top speed. Hitmonchan thrust his icy fist at Beedrill as soon as he came in range, but the insect managed to move slightly to the side and avoided the attack. In the next instant Beedrill slashed Hitmonchan in the chest with his lances before flying away, leaving a red X. Hitmonchan fell to his knees and collapsed forward onto his face, signaling that the battle was finally at its end. Ross and Lorain called back their respective Pokemon and walked up to each other.

"That was a pretty good battle, kid." Ross told Lorain. "You gave me one hell of a fight."

"You were pretty tough too." Lorain praised. "At the beginning I didn't think you'd even be able to beat Shedinja."

"You sure have become quite the formidable trainer, Lorain." Quinton chimed in.

"Yeah, we sure are going to miss you." Bolt told her.

"Miss me? What the heck are you talking about?" Lorain asked with a quirked brow.

"You said the gym leader here offered you a spot as an apprentice trainer." Bolt reminded her.

"Yeah, but I never said yes." Lorain told them. "For your information, I turned her down. This gym specializes in Poison Pokemon, and while there are more than a few poison and bug-types out there, my goal is to become master of all kinds of Bug Pokemon."

"But you said you spent the night here training." Quinton pointed out. "And you're even wearing that ninja costume."

"I trained here because the gym leader offered to help me a little with training Ninjask and Shedinja." Lorain explained. "Apparently some branch of the gym leader's family was well trained in ninja tactics involving Shedinja and Ninjask in ancient times. And as for the costume, you all have to admit that it is kinda cool. All the people who train here wear these, so I thought as long as I was here I'd wear one too."

"So you're not going to stay here to train?" Bolt asked.

"Of course not. I'm having way too much fun traveling with you guys." Lorain told them. "Why the heck would you even think that?"

"Well… we kinda thought that what Ross said to you yesterday made you want to strike out on your own." Bolt admitted. "But I'm glad you're sticking with us, little lady."

At that moment, Rika showed up and approached the group. "Ah, Lorain. I take it you settled things with your friends?"

"Yep." Lorain told the red ninja girl. "Everything's all good."

"Then I suppose your friend, Bolt will want to have his gym battle with Lady Janine." Rika assumed.

"Oh yeah. I kinda forgot that's why we were here." Bolt recalled. "Tell me something, gorgeous, is the leader of this gym as beautiful as you?"

"She is, but you shouldn't take her lightly because of her looks." Rika told him. "As the old saying goes, every rose has its thorns. Be careful you don't prick yourself with them."

"Hey, I'm not gonna take this battle lightly for a second." Bolt assured Rika. "I can tell from the training that Lorain got from her that I'm in for one hell of a fight, and I'm looking forward to it."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> For the time being, it seems like Fridays and Sundays are going to be the only times I'll be able to do any actual writing. That'll change when the classes I'm taking right now end, but for now this is how it'll be most of the time. Anyway, I hope this chapter wasn't too short. It was actually kind of fun doing another story involving a Shedinja, even though that Pokemon creeps me out.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	22. Koga's Daughter

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

><p>Chapter 22: Koga's Daughter<p>

Rika led Bolt and the others into the old mansion that was the Fuchsia City Gym. The inside of the old estate was silent. The only sound that Bolt and the others heard as Rika led them through the place was the sound of their own footsteps against the wooden floor. Of course Bolt and the others knew that the mansion was far from abandoned. After all, the place was also the training ground for students practicing in the ninja arts. After a few moments of walking, Rika finally led Bolt and the gang into a large empty room that seemed to be used for an arena.

"Okay, so where's this gym leader?" Bolt asked.

In answer to Bolt's question, a cloud of smoke went off a few feet in front of him. The smoke quickly cleared to reveal Janine.

"Hello there." The ninja gym leader greeted. "So, which of you is Bolt Hanson?"

"That would be me." Bolt answered as he stepped forward and lowered his shades. "You know, you're probably the cutest gym leader I've seen in Kanto."

"And you're just as Lorain described." Janine replied with a small smirk. "But flattery won't get you anywhere in this gym. You'll find that I'm one of the most formidable trainers you'll ever face."

"I'm counting on that." Bolt told her. "Now what do you say we get this show on the road?"

"Fine with me." Janine agreed. "Rika."

The red ninja girl nodded and took her place on the battlefield as referee. "This match will be a three-on-three Pokemon battle! Only the challenger will be allowed to switch Pokemon during the match! Begin!"

"Let's rock Magnezone!" Bolt called with the throw of his first ball. The magnetic Pokemon flew out onto the field.

"Go Weezing!" Janine called with her own throw. The floating two-faced gasbag burst out to face Magnezone. "You were wise to select a steel-type for this battle, but it will do you no good here. Flamethrower!"

"Dodge and use Thunderbolt!" Bolt ordered.

Weezing opened its main mouth and belched out a stream of green flames. Magnezone hovered to the right to try and avoid the attack, but the edge of it caught the rim of the metal Pokemon's body. The attack had caused that part of Magnezone's steel body to glow red-hot. Magnezone then shocked Weezing with bolts of yellow lightning from its magnets.

"Not good. Looks like Magnezone's been burned." Quinton observed from the sidelines. "If this first battle goes on for too long, Bolt will lose his best weapon against Janine's Pokemon."

"Use Magnet Bomb!" Bolt ordered.

"Use Flamethrower once more!" Janine commanded.

Magnezone crackled with electricity and a ball of blue energy gathered on his right magnet. When the ball got big enough, the mechanical Pokemon fired it at Weezing. Weezing was hit in its larger face by the projectile, but recovered and belched out another stream of green flames. The second flame attack struck Magnezone right in the face.

"Flamethrower again!" Janine ordered.

"Dang it! Use Metal Sound!" Bolt commanded.

Magnezone let out a piercing metal screech that forced almost everyone in the room to cover their ears. Weezing closed its four eyes and cried out from the noise. When the sound finally ended, the purple gas Pokemon belched out another green flame attack at Magnezone. Magnezone attempted to fly out of the way but got caught in the side where its burn was. The mechanical Pokemon wobbled in the air but managed to stay afloat.

"Now's our chance, Weezing!" Janine called. "Move in!"

"Use Thunderbolt once more!" Bolt commanded.

Weezing floated towards Magnezone as fast as it could go. Magnezone shocked it with another bolt of yellow electricity, but the purpled gasbag kept on going.

"Now! Use Explosion!" Janine commanded.

With Weezing now right in front of Magnezone, it gave off a brilliant white light that triggered a massive explosion in the air above the battlefield. When the smoke finally cleared, both Magnezone and Weezing were on the ground unconscious.

"Both Pokemon are unable to battle!" Rika declared. "The first round is a draw!"

"That's a pretty bold move you just pulled." Bolt remarked as he and Janine called back their respective Pokemon.

"My goal was not to lose against your Magnezone." Janine replied. "And not losing is not the same thing as winning. That's one of the first things that my father taught me."

"Your dad, huh? He must be a pretty good trainer." Bolt assumed.

"My father Koga was originally the leader of this gym." Janine revealed. "Recently though he has become a member of Kanto and Johto's Elite Four. When he left, he entrusted this gym to me."

"No way! This girl's the kid of an Elite Four member?" a stunned Ross exclaimed.

"I had no idea about this." Lorain told them. "This battle might be a lot harder for Bolt than I thought it'd be."

"Well, looks like you are one of the toughest trainers I've ever went up against." Bolt praised as he pulled out his next pokeball. "Now I'm stoked. Let's rock, Luxray!" The electric lion burst out onto the field.

"Now the real battle begins! Go Ariados!" Janine called with her own throw. A red and purple spider-like Pokemon emerged from the ball to face Luxray.

"Okay Luxray, use Charge Beam!" Bolt commanded.

Luxray fired two beams of electrical energy from his eyes at Ariados. The spider Pokemon was knocked back a least a foot by the attack but managed to remain standing.

"Use Attract!" Janine ordered.

Ariados winked at Luxray, and from her left eye flew a pink energy heart that hit the electric lion in the face. Luxray was instantly love struck upon being hit. He began panting and his eyes practically turned into hearts.

"Crud!" Bolt cursed. "Luxray! Shake it off and use Wild Charge!"

Luxray was too lost in Ariados' spell to hear Bolt's command. Instead he sat down on the battlefield and starred lovingly at the spider Pokemon.

"Use Spider Web!" Janine ordered.

From her mouth, Ariados fired several silk threads that quickly weaved themselves into a web. The web came down over Luxray and covered him like a net.

"Now Bolt can't call back Luxray to undo the effects of Attract!" Quinton observed. "Janine has him right where she wants him."

"You've fought valiantly, Bolt." Janine told him. "But I'm afraid this is the beginning of the end for you."

"Don't count me out yet!" Bolt told her. "You may have messed with Luxray's head, but I'm still gonna come out on top!"

"Well you certainly are confident." Janine admitted. "Not to mention quite handsome."

"Uh, you really think so?" Bolt asked.

"Why of course." Janine told him. "In fact you're probably the most handsome trainer who's ever come in here."

"Oh, well… I was pretty blessed in the looks department." Bolt chuckled.

"Perhaps after this battle is over, you and I could go out on a date." Janine suggested. "I'm sure you could use someone to comfort you after you lose."

"Yeah, that'd be great." Bolt agreed.

"Bolt! What the hell, man?" Ross cut in. "You're supposed to be taking this girl down, not get her number!"

"Huh?" Bolt responded.

Janine smirked. "Cross Poison!"

Ariados skittered forward at a fast speed towards Luxray. When she got in range, Ariados' right front leg began to glow with a purple light. The spider Pokemon used her glowing leg to slash Luxray on the cheek, causing him to cry out. The electric lion recovered from the attack though and went back to looking at Ariados with a love struck gaze.

"This isn't anything personal, Bolt darling." Janine told him. "I hope we can still go out after this."

"Don't worry about it, babe. I know this is just business." Bolt assured her. "Maybe you could show me around this city."

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Ross asked.

"Looks like Janine has used an Attract attack of her own." Quinton observed. "Right now it seems like Bolt's wrapped around her finger. She's found his greatest weakness."

"Well then if he loses, it'll serve him right." Lorain declared.

"Damn straight." Ross agreed.

"If only there was something we could do to snap Bolt out of it."

"Hey Bolt! Christine's here!" Skins called.

"Huh? Christine? Really?" Bolt responded as he suddenly became nervous. "Aw crap! Where is she? And how's my hair?"

"Relax, dude. She's not here." Ross told him. "But if she was, I'm sure she'd say you're acting like a total dumbass! You're letting Janine you like a fiddle!"

"Yeah man. You're in the middle of a gym battle." Quinton reminded him. "And right now you're letting the gym leader you're trying to beat walk all over you."

Bolt let out a heavy sigh. "Yeah, you're right. Hey Janine, I'm flattered and all, but messing me like that is a pretty low blow!"

"You can't blame me for trying to exploit my opponent's greatest weakness." Janine replied. "But I apologize if I crossed a line."

"Okay. But you should know that the same trick won't work again!" Bolt declared. "Luxray! Snap out of it and use Wild Charge!"

This time Luxray seemed to hear Bolt's voice. He shook his head and glared at Ariados. The lion's body became shrouded in electrical energy and he burst through the stick silk net that had been cast over him. Luxray plowed into Ariados at full speed, knocking the spider Pokemon into the air. Ariados landed on her back and was unconscious.

"Ariados is unable to battle!" Rika announced. "Round two goes to Bolt and Luxray!"

Janine called back Luxray as Bolt breathed a sigh of relief. A split second later though, Luxray suddenly fell to one knee.

"Uh-oh! It looks like Ariados' Cross Poison attack managed to poison Luxray." Quinton realized.

"Not good." Lorain responded. "If Luxray's poisoned, then Janine has him right where she want him."

"It's time I start to bring this battle to an end!" Janine declared as she threw her final ball. "Go Crobat!"

Flying out of Janine's ball was a large purple bat-like creature with two pairs of wings. The insides of its wings were green and between its lower pair of wings were two tiny feet.

"Use Venoshock!" Janine commanded.

Crobat opened her mouth and spewed out a glob of green gunk at Luxray. The electric lion was hit in the face by the attack and he cried out as his body gave off purple sparks of electricity. After a moment, Luxray quickly fell to his side and was out cold.

"Luxray is unable to battle!" Rika declared. "Round three goes to Janine and Crobat!"

"You've done well to make it this far against me, Bolt." Janine praised as the blonde rocker called back Luxray. "But I'm afraid you don't stand a chance against me now."

"Well see about that!" Bolt declared as he produced his last pokeball. "Time to try out a Pokemon I got on the way over here! Let's rock, Rotom!" The refrigerator Pokemon burst out of the ball to face Crobat.

"A Rotom? I was hardly expecting that." Janine responded. "Still, your Rotom will not help you win this battle. You may have type advantage over me right now, but that will not make a difference against Crobat's speed and power."

"You know what they say about talk being cheap." Bolt told her. "Now show us what you've got!"

"Very well. Crobat, use Toxic!" Janine commanded.

"Electroball!" Bolt ordered.

Crobat opened her mouth and sprayed Rotom with a purple liquid. Rotom instantly became ill, but opened its door and fired a yellow ball of electrical energy. The refrigerator Pokemon's attack hit Crobat in the chest, but the bat Pokemon managed to stay airborne.

"Now use Venoshock!" Janine ordered.

Crobat opened her mouth and sprayed another glob of green goo at Rotom. Rotom was hit in the chest and its body gave off purple sparks. The refrigerator Pokemon managed to shake off the attack though and glared at Crobat.

"Okay Rotom. Hit Crobat with Blizzard!" Bolt commanded.

Rotom opened the doors of his chest and let loose a blast of snow and ice Janine's bat Pokemon. Crobat struggled to remain in this air as the wind batted her around. Layers of frost and snow quickly gathered on her four wings. When Rotom's attack finally ended, Crobat dropped to the ground like a stone and was out cold.

"Crobat is unable to battle!" Rika declared. "Victory in the match goes to Bolt Hanson and Rotom!"

Lorain and the others all breathed a sigh of relief as Bolt and Janine called back their Pokemon. Afterwards, Janine walked up to Bolt.

"You did very well against me." Janine told him. "For that I bestow upon you the Soul Badge."

"Thanks." Bolt replied as he took the badge that Janine handed him. "So… were you at all serious before when you were flirting with me during the battle?"

At this, Janine smirked and swung her leg, knocking Bolt off his feet and onto his back. Before Bolt could do anything, the ninja girl got down on top of him, sitting on his waist.

"I was exaggerating a little before when I said you were the handsomest trainer to ever come here, but I do find you attractive." Janine admitted. "If things don't work out with that Christine girl your friend mentioned before, feel free to drop by here again."

Janine then leaned in and planted a kiss on Bolt's cheek. Afterwards she and Rika threw smoke bombs to the floor, covering the room in a thick cloud of smoke. When the smoke finally cleared, there was no sign of Janine and Rika. Bolt's face was bright red as he got to his feet. The rest of the gang could see the purple mark of Janine's lipstick on his cheek.

"Dude!" Bolt declared. "What the hell just happened?"

"I think Janine likes you." Quinton answered. "Or at least is pretty interested."

"Let's just get the hell out of here." Ross told them. "I'm sure Romeo here could use some air."

"You know, her perfume smelled like cherry blossoms." Bolt spoke as they began to walk.

"Let it go man." Quinton told him. "I think Janine might be a little too much for you to handle."

"Yeah… you're probably right." Bolt agreed. "Still, I don't think I'll ever run into a gym leader like her again."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Sorry if this chapter was a little too short. Truth be told, I actually think I could've done this chapter a little better. To me it kind of feels like I could've done something more with it. Still, I hope everyone found this latest installment to be enjoyable. Until next time.

Please review and let me know what you think.


	23. Kanto Safari

**Author's Note:** Apologies for not updating this story last Friday. I just felt like I needed to take a little break from this story and work on something different for a day. I'm feeling a little reinvigorated when it comes to this story right now though, especially after watching the Pokemon Mega Evolution Specials yesterday on the Cartoon Network.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

><p>Chapter 23: Kanto Safari<p>

With his victory at the Fuchsia Gym, Bolt only had two more badges left to get before entering the Indigo League. Unfortunately, the next gym was all the way out on Cinnabar Island out across the ocean, and the only way to get there was by boat. Thus Bolt and the rest of the gang had been forced to remain in Fuchsia City for five days and wait for the next boat to Cinnabar. In that time, the gang had seen most of the major attractions in Fuchsia City except for one, the Kanto Safari Zone. That morning, Bolt and the others had gone to that magnificent nature preserve and were hanging out in the zoo in front of it.

"According to this, the Safari Zone has recently been populated from Pokemon relocated from other regions." Quinton read from a pamphlet he had gotten. "Of course those Pokemon are pretty rare, but they've got Pokemon all the way from Unova here."

"I've been wanting to come to the Safari Zone for ages!" Lorain declared. "They've got tons of rare Bug Pokemon like Pinsir and Scyther."

"Any Electric Pokemon running around this place?" Bolt asked.

"I'm afraid not." Quinton answered. "But there are a lot of Pokemon that can't be found anywhere else in Kanto here."

"Well, you guys can go in if you want, but I'll probably just hand around out here." Bolt decided.

"Bolt?" a familiar voice spoke, causing him to turn. Standing only a few feet away from him was Christine.

"Oh! Hey Christine." Bolt greeted. "I wasn't expecting you here."

"We'll give you guys some room." Quinton told them before walking off with the rest of the gang.

"So… what brings you to Fuchsia City?" Bolt asked.

"My step mother dragged me along to meet with some friends of hers." Christine explained. "So are you and your friends going into the Safari Zone?"

"Well the rest of the guys probably will." Bolt answered. "I may just hang around out here."

"I wish I could go into the Safari Zone." Christine revealed. "I've always wanted to catch a Dratini."

"As in the Dragon Pokemon?" Bolt asked.

"Yeah. I've always thought it was a cute Pokemon." Christine answered. "But… there's no way either of my parents would allow me to even go in and search for a Dratini."

"Well, they are pretty rare anyway." Bolt pointed out. "You could probably spend days looking for a Dratini and not even find one."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Christine agreed. Bolt noticed a hint of sadness in her eyes. "Well, I should probably be going. I just wanted to say hi."

"Hey, how long are you gonna be in town?" Bolt asked.

"My step mother and I will be leaving tomorrow morning." Christine answered. "Why?"

"Oh, uh… no reason." Bolt answered. "Well, I'll catch you later… I guess."

"Yeah. Bye." Christine replied, and with that she walked off.

As soon as Christine was gone, Bolt ran off and caught up to the rest of the gang. They were all waiting for him out in front of the Safari Zone gate.

"How'd it go?" Lorain asked.

"Guys, I'm going in with ya!" Bolt told him.

"Well Ross and I plan to go to the area where all the Bug Pokemon hang out." Lorain informed him.

"Yeah, I'm gonna try and get my hands on a Heracross." Ross revealed.

"Anyway, you're all welcome to join us." Lorain offered.

"Thanks, but I've got my own plans." Bolt replied. "Quinton, Skins, what're you guys gonna do?"

"Guess we didn't really think about that." Quinton replied. "Why? What'd you have in mind?"

"The three of us are going fishing!" Bolt decided.

* * *

><p>After checking in with the warden of the Safari Zone, each member of the gang was given a set of thirty special pokeballs known as Safari Balls. Though the only thing special about these balls was that they were green on top instead of red. The warden had directed Bolt, Quinton and Skins to where they could get a boat to go fishing while Ross and Lorain headed off to the area where the Zone's Bug Pokemon could be found. All of them had been given three hours to hunt for Pokemon.<p>

"Okay, so why exactly do you have this burning urge to catch a Dratini all of a sudden?" Quinton asked Bolt as they headed for the small lake where they would find the boat.

"I've got my reasons, man." Bolt answered.

"And would one of those reasons happen to be named Christine?" Quinton asked. "Just what did the two of you talk about when we left?"

"Oh, you know. Just stuff." Bolt replied.

Before Quinton could question Bolt any further, a small light-pink Pokemon walked into their path. It had an egg-shaped body and seemed to be wearing dark-pink pants with a wide white waistband. In the front of its pants it carried a white stone that looked like an egg. On the top of its head was a growth that resembled a ponytail."

"A Happiny!" Quinton identified. "I guess we shouldn't be too surprised to see one here, since this place is a major spot to find Chansey."

Suddenly a Safari Ball flew through the air and struck the little pink egg Pokemon in the back of the head. Happiny was sucked in and the ball jiggled on the ground for several moments before finally making the sound that signaled the capture was complete."

"Bull's-eye!" a familiar voice spoke. Bolt and the others saw Brock approaching the pokeball.

"Well hey! If it isn't Brock from Pewter City." Bolt greeted.

"Oh! Hi Bolt." Brock responded. "I wasn't expecting to run into you here."

"Quinton, this is Brock, leader of the Pewter City Gym." Bolt introduced.

"Ex-gym leader, actually." Brock revealed as he shook Quinton's hand. "My little brother just took over not long ago. Right now I'm on a journey to pursue my own goals."

"So Brock, the three of us are gonna go fishing for some Pokemon." Bolt informed him.

"Bolt wants to catch a Dratini to impress this girl." Quinton chimed in.

"Shut up man." Bolt quietly told him with a jab from his elbow. "So what do ya say, Brock man? Wanna tag along?"

"Sure. Why not?" Brock agreed.

"Well okay then." Bolt replied, and with that they headed off to the boat.

* * *

><p>Ross had been wandering around the bug area of the Safari Zone for almost half an hour. He and Lorain had split up as soon as they had gotten there. During that time, Ross had seen several Bug Pokemon, but none of them were the one that he wanted. He was sure that Lorain was in heaven with all the bugs that were swarming the area, but he had been coming up dry. It didn't help matters that the species of bug he was after was one of the rarest bugs in the Safari Zone.<p>

Just as Ross felt like he was about to give up, he spotted something clinging to the side of a large tree only a few feet in front of him. It was a large dark-blue beetle-like creature with well-developed arms and legs. On its head was a very pronounced horn with an axe-shaped blade at the top. The insect was sucking on the sap from the tree.

"Finally! A Heracross." Ross spoke as he reached into his bag of Safari Balls. "You're mine!"

Ross' thrown ball struck the back of Heracross' hard shell and sucked it inside. The ball dropped to the ground and Ross watched as it jiggled around. After a few moments though, the ball burst open and Haracross came out. The beetle Pokemon instantly spotted Ross.

"Dammit!" Ross cursed. "Okay, plan B."

Ross reached back into the bag that the safari warden had given him and pull out a smaller pouch that contained some bait. Ross threw some of the Pokemon bait at the ground in front of Heracross. The beetle Pokemon froze for a moment and then cautiously approached the bait. As Heracross began to eat, Ross threw another Safari Ball at it. The ball ricocheted off of Heracross' shell and flew off somewhere into the brush. Ross cursed inwardly and threw another ball. Like before, the ball bounced off of Heracross' hard shell.

Gritting his teeth in frustration, Ross threw five more pokeballs at the beetle Pokemon. The fifth ball struck Heracross' horn and sucked it in. Ross watched the ball jiggle on the ground, hoping that it wouldn't burst open like the first one. Eventually though, the ball finally stopped moving and made the sound that signaled a completed capture. Breathing a sigh of relief, Ross went over and picked up the pokeball.

"Guess my work is done here." Ross spoke.

"YES!" a familiar voice cheered from not far away. Ross followed the voice and saw Lorain pick her own pokeball.

"Hey kid. Catch something good?" Ross asked.

"You bet I did!" Lorain answered. "I know Quinton said that there were some Pokemon from other regions here, but I never expected to find this!"

Lorain threw her pokeball, and emerging from it was a creature that looked like a very large insect larva. It had six tiny black legs and the rear half of its body was brown. The front half of its body meanwhile was covered with thick white fuzz, leaving only its two front legs and black face uncovered. It had two blue eyes and around what could be considered its neck were five red slightly curved horns that resembled the rays of the sun.

"What kind of Pokemon is that?" Ross asked.

"It's a Larvesta!" Lorain proudly answered. "My mom told me stories about this Pokemon when I was little. I've always wanted one of my own."

"Well, looks like we both lucked out then." Ross replied. "You got a rare bug, and I got that Heracross I wanted. How 'bout we hang out in one of those rest houses and wait for Bolt and the others to get done with their fishing."

"Are you kidding? There are tons of other bugs here to catch!" Lorain told Ross as she grabbed him by the arm. "Let's go!" And with that, Ross groaned as Lorain dragged him off.

* * *

><p>Bolt and the others had been sitting in the boat with their lines cast into the water for just over an hour. In that time, none of their lines had snagged a Pokemon. There had also been very little conversation between the four of them. All of them were totally focused on their lines.<p>

"Well… seems like they aren't biting today." Quinton spoke.

"Patience man. It's only a matter of time before we catch something." Bolt assured him. "Besides, this is pretty nice. Just the four of us guys alone with nature."

"Yep." Skins replied.

Suddenly Quinton's line seemed to snag something. Calmly yet quickly, the blonde began to reel in whatever it was he had caught. Within a few moments, Quinton pulled from the water a strange mammalian creature with pink skin and a cream-colored snout. It had ears that were slightly like a bear's, and a clueless expression was on its face.

"A Slowpoke!" Brock identified.

"Okay. Now we're talking." Quinton spoke as he pulled a Safari Ball from his bag.

The ball Quinton threw hit Slowpoke in the face, sucking the aquatic mammal in. The ball jiggled in the water for a few moments before making the sound that signaled a completed capture. Quinton pulled the ball out of the water.

"That was a pretty easy capture." Bolt remarked.

"If I remember what I read correctly, there are also Shellder living in this lake too." Quinton recalled.

"You're going to try and evolve your Slowpoke into a Slowbro?" Brock asked.

"Even better, my friend." Quinton replied.

With that, Quinton threw Slowpoke's pokeball to the floor of the boat, causing the pink mammal to come out. Quinton then reached into his bag and pulled out a yellowish-green stone with holes in it that resembled a crown.

"What's that?" Skins asked.

"It's called a King's Rock." Quinton answered as he placed the stone on Slowpoke's head. "I picked it up while we were in Celadon. Now let's watch."

The four silently watched Slowpoke for several moments waiting for something to happen. Suddenly a large dark-blue calm burst out of the water and clamped onto Slowpoke's head, starting the group. Both Slowpoke and the shellfish began to glow with a white light and change shape. After a moment the light faded and Slowpoke was now standing on his hind legs. Around his neck was a large frilled collar with white and red stripes. The clam that had clamped onto his head had changed into a grey spiral seashell with a red gem on the front. On the back of the shell towards what would be considered its mouth were two small angry-looking eyes.

"Slowking." The aquatic Pokemon spoke in a regal-sounding voice.

"Dude!" Bolt exclaimed. "That was awesome!"

"And the interesting thing is that the Shellder on Slowking's head is releasing a neural toxin into his brain, dramatically raising his IQ points." Quinton revealed. "Professor Ivy from the Orange Islands wrote a very fascinating paper on the subject not long ago."

Brock suddenly became depressed and let out a heavy sigh. "Oh… Ivy."

"You okay man?" Bolt asked.

"Yeah, it's just… I used to know Professor Ivy." Brock revealed. "In fact I guess you could say that I used to be her assistant."

"I didn't know you were a researcher too." Quinton replied.

"I didn't help with her research much." Brock responded. "I took care of the little stuff like making sure her house was clean. She was brilliant, but kind of a slob."

"Sounds like you had the hots for her." Bolt observed.

"She was an angel." Brock replied. "Unlike any other woman I've ever met. For a while I thought she was the one."

"What went wrong?" Skins asked.

Again, Brock sighed. "…I guess it's finally time I told somebody about it. It was late and I had just come back after doing the shopping. But when I got to the kitchen I found Ivy… making out with another woman."

"Ouch." Bolt spoke.

"Bummer." Skins agreed.

"I was completely crushed." Brock continued. "After that I left the Orange Islands and never looked back. In the end I guess I had just been kidding myself. Ivy was never interested in me. She probably wouldn't have been even if she was interested in guys."

"Aw, c'mon man. You can't get down on yourself like that." Bolt told him.

"Yeah, Bolt's right." Quinton agreed. "Sure things didn't work out with Ivy, but you seem like a great guy. I'm sure one of these days you will find a lady who'll want to be with you."

"You think so?" Brock asked.

"Totally." Quinton answered. "And hey, at least you're not pinning after a girl who's already spoken for like Bolt is."

"Way to turn the gun barrel on me, Quinton." Bolt sighed.

"Don't get me wrong, Bolt. I'm totally hoping that things somehow work out between you and Christine one day." Quintont told him. "But you are playing with fire when it comes to her."

"Maybe I am, but… that doesn't change anything." Bolt told him.

Before the conversation could go any further, Bolt snagged something on his line. The blonde rocker quickly began to try and reel in whatever it was he had caught. After what seemed like a great struggle, Bolt finally pulled the Pokemon he had snagged out of the water. The creature he caught was a small blue sea serpent-like creature with a white underside and two white fins on the sides of its head. It had a white snout and two large black eyes.

"A Dratini!" Quinton identified. "You actually reeled one in!"

"Yeah, but the hard part is gonna be catching it." Bolt replied.

"Quick! Throw it some bait so it won't run off!" Brock told him.

Acting quickly, Bolt reached into his bag and threw some bait into the water. Dratini cautiously began to eat the bait. Bolt threw a Safari Ball at the little dragon, but it merely bounced off the top of Dratini's head and sank into the water. In fear that Dratini might swim off, Bolt quickly pulled out a second ball and threw it. This time the ball sailed right past the side of the little dragon's head and into the lake.

"One more shot!" Bolt spoke with his third throw.

Bolt's third Safari Ball struck Dratini on the forehead and sucked it inside. The four watched intently as the ball jiggled in the water. After several tense moments, the ball finally stopped moving and made the noise signaling capture.

"Oh yeah. I rock." Bolt declared as he pulled the ball out of the water.

"Thank you so much for capturing that Dratini for us." The familiar voice of a woman spoke. "Now be a dear and hand it over to us."

"Yeah! And while you're at it, hand over every other Pokemon you caught too." A familiar male voice added.

Bolt and the others looked up, and standing on a ledge overlooking the lake was the duo of Cassidy and Butch. Their Ratticate was standing on the ledge with them.

"You losers again!" Bolt identified.

"It's so nice that you remember us, because we haven't forgotten about you for an instant." Cassidy told them.

"That's right." Butch added. "And after we take your Pokemon, we're gonna make you wish you were never born!"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> The main reason for this chapter was to do something that would allow me to beef up the Pokemon teams of the other characters a little bit. Plus how could I not do a story like this without spending a little time on the Safari Zone. This chapter also ended up being a good opportunity to share my little theory of what happened between Brock and Professor Ivy.

Please review and let me know what you think.


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